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Run to the Customer…

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Is MTNL scared of competition? No, say the big bosses of the corporation.

"Let the private players come and start their services. Things are not easy

in the basic service market. Unless they have the volumes, they will not be

profitable. Private players will only target the corporates who form the cream

of telecom users. Look at Hughes in Mumbai. It services only the commercial

segment," says MTNL CMD Narendra Sharma, confident that the corporation

with four million subscribers in the two metros, would be able to beat the

competition in every way.

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Nobody doubts the corporation’s achievement in terms of its assets and

reach, but there is certainly a lot to be desired in terms of its marketing and

customer-care services. The corporation’s ground level activities in recent

times indicate that MTNL mandarins have also realized this. Competition, or at

least the very mention of it, has done a world of good to the outlook of the

officialdom.

In anticipation of the private operators launching their basic services in

the metros, MTNL has undertaken the revamping of its care services. From

increasing its reach and visibility to better interface with customers, the

latest initiatives by the service provider are welcome signs for hapless

customers who have long become used to the rude behavior of MTNL employees.

Assets

  • A customer base of four million

    customers
  • A bouquet of offerings–basic,

    cellular, WLL, Internet, ISDN, and many other value-added

    services
  • 73 customer-care centers in the

    two metros

Recent initiatives

  • Focus on brand-building.

    Appointing an AOR to handle media buying
  • Launch Trump, its pre-paid

    cellular service
  • Launch branded pay phones which

    would also accept credit cards
  • Increase the number of agents

    selling MTNL off-the-shelf services
  • Introduce a slew of customer

    care initiatives like phone on phone, complete automation of

    billing systems to reduce frauds and increase the number of

    banks accepting MTNL phone payments
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First, in a bid to improve its brand equity, MTNL has invited bids from

leading advertising agencies to pitch for its media buying business. It has

received bids from 34 advertising agencies so far, but will shortlist one to

coordinate all of its media buying activities. The company will soon step up its

brand building activities by launching an aggressive print and outdoor media

campaign. MTNL’s strategy of appointing an agency on record is in line with

the strategy of other corporates who hire an independent AOR for media buying.

Among the many campaigns that the new agency will have to promote, the

mandate also involves popularizing its new pre-paid cellular service branded as

Trump. The new service, which will be launched this month, could possibly be

priced at Rs 2.60 per minute for outgoing calls and Rs 2 per minute for incoming

calls. MTNL is planning to launch branded pay phones, which would allow the user

to use credit cards to make STD, and ISD calls as well as access the Internet.

The project is currently at its pilot stage with 50 machines being deployed at

various places in Mumbai and Delhi. Says GM, marketing P K Saha, "If the

pilot succeeds, we will get into branding and marketing these machines in a big

way."

These hi-tech machines will be unmanned Internet kiosks ideal for airports,

hotels, clubs, and hospitals. The Internet pay phones are being imported from

Canada with the maintenance undertaken by ITI. MTNL provides the lines besides

the capital expenditure. The machines are fitted with magnetic cards, which will

accept Visa and Master cards. MTNL has tied up with Standard Chartered Bank for

the online authentication of the customer’s credit card. Standard Chartered

has given each of the installed machines a unique authentication number and has

also set up a credit card server that will check the operations.

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Saha says, "We want to increase the number of our agents in Delhi from

90 to at least 300 this year. We want to upgrade all the 49 customer service

centers to Sanchar Haats." MTNL has 29 Sanchar Haats in New Delhi.

Despite MTNL’s impressive subscriber base in the basic telephony segment,

there are serious problems with its customer care services. Some of its new

initiatives include a phone on phone service to reduce procedural bottlenecks in

getting a new connection; the complete automation of its billing system to

overcome frequent complaints of inaccurate billing; online bill payment and

payment through many more commercial banks, including their automated teller

machine counters.

And most important, MTNL has plans to put an improvised fault management

system in place. Let’s hope there’s no queue for this one!

Balaka Baruah Agarwal/CNS

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