Small players ahead on customer satisfaction

Do mobile operators with pan-India presence offer better customer satisfaction? No seems to be the answer as per the International Data Corporation India Mobile Users' Study released today.

For the third year in succession, smaller players in the telecom sector have been rated ahead of the big names on overall customer satisfaction scores.

According to the survey, Tamil Nadu-based Aircel Cellular Ltd and Idea Cellular, which operates in eight circles, are the only two players to have crossed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended benchmark of 95 per cent on a 100-point user satisfaction scale.

"Aircel is the number one brand and Idea scores more than the other biggies in the GSM space. In CDMA, the surprise was the state-owned MTNL Garuda, scoring better than the bigger and more visible brands Tata Indicom and Reliance," the study said.

While noting the remarkable improvement in overall satisfaction scores over the last year, the survey found that satisfaction was no promise of loyalty. Despite being satisfied with their current service provider, as high as 30 per cent of mobile phone users in the country were likely to shift to a better service or offer.

"These 30 per cent vagabonds coupled with other mobile services trade dynamics make India one of the most complex mobile markets," said Arpit Singh, assistant manager, user research, IDC India.

On user satisfaction, the survey stated that customer care and billing continued to be two areas of concern for subscribers.

The average waiting time while speaking to customer care executives was 5 minutes, and 23 per cent of customers were dissatisfied with their billing, with all operators registering a high number of billing-related complaints.

"Across studies we have seen none of the brands being strongly associated with customer care in the consumer mind space. This can be one of the vacant positioning slots for mobile service operators," said Singh.

"Users perceive wrong amounts being charged by operators as the prime discomfort area in billing. To make matters worse, in 43 per cent billing complaints, it took more than 3 days for operators to resolve the issue," the survey said.

On value-added services (VAS), the survey found that SMS, roaming, and SMS-based VAS (ringtones and picture downloads) were the most prominent in terms of usage. Also, the usage of VAS was higher among CDMA mobile phone users than among GSM users.

The nation-wide study covered all the four metros and 10 major cities from A, B and C category circles, IDC said.

Mobile survey

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• Aircel Cellular Ltd. and Idea Cellular scored 95 per cent in user satisfaction
• In CDMA, MTNL Garuda scored better than Tata Indicom and Reliance
• 30% of the users were likely to shift for a better service or offer