Telecom Revolution and the Customer

Telecom revolution was the next big thing that India could foresee back in the late 90s. And surely; it has been one without fail. From pagers to huge bulky mobile handsets to sleeker models; we have seen it all. Today it is impossible to imagine a life without a phone and a 24x7 network coverage responding to it. Kaizen in communication technologies & the never ending plans, schemes and offers by the telecom companies have literally made it to saturation levels. We have come a long way from incoming calls being chargeable on networks to now even roaming charges being wavered off (proposed TRAI regulation; yet to be implemented).

In short, infrastructure has done it once again – handset technologies (advent and mass use of smartphones – Nokia / Samsung / BlackBerry phones ) , networking softwares like Android , companies like RIM – all have hoarded the ever brimming telecommunications market. Yet, this is one area that is yet to hit the DECLINE stage on the PLC curve. The market just doesn’t saturate because every moment there are millions of people buying new cellphones and connections. As such, stalwarts like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Reliance etc are raking in moolahs. Then where is it going wrong ?

True internet at your beck and call is a great thing to have. But then, we cannot forgo the downside of things. Privacy gets compromised upon, ethicalities go for a six. The telecom infrastructure revolution has a bred a generation of people who are too tech savvy to see beyond their mobile phones. Try listening to a few jokes about BB addicts J … And, the telecomm companies are banking on these addictions. That is where there revenue comes from. That is where malpractices breed. Even the best of these companies have a horde of utterly dissatisfied customers because; somewhere during this evolution, the customer satisfaction orientation got left behind. Today these telecom companies have good names. But when we go talk to a few customers, the truth stands bare.

Airtel’s latest campaign “Har ek friend zaroori hota hai” was an instant hit among the teenage India; the reason being - teenage India is more obsessed with friendships than family ties. Yes, Airtel hit the bull’s eye with the campaign. No matter what kind of customer service they provide, people will shift to Airtel via MNP because ‘may be every customer is not important but every friend is important’. Talk to a Docomo user – all he will say is “All talk; no content” … these companies are on the right track when it comes to marketing themselves (remember Vodafone zoo zoos ) . but when it comes to technology upgradation, there seems to be a lacuna somewhere. All these customer issues are not a result of any other problem but technical problems – an area where the infrastructure sector needs to buckle up.

The bottom line for all this is – infrastructure should be there to make our lives easy. Inefficiency in the name of competition, blowhorn type advertising and no commitment/ content – telecoms are doomed to fail. Telecom is a growing market since ages, not nearing saturation as of now. It would be a worthy fight if they put in efforts at making themselves better rather than merely showing themselves to be better & ahead in the race. Because, newsflash – your customer knows the truth!

-Ayush Nalotia

References:

www.marketinginternet.com

TOI, The Hindu