Competitor analysis of mobile communication in Bangladesh

The telecom industry is one of the few technical industries that have intense internal competition. With majority of the telecom companies of the country being multinational subsidiaries, who have vast finances at their disposal, and the Bangladesh market providing a population of roughly (and unofficially) around 200 million many of whom are intent of carrying more than one subscription, competitive price wars are ever present. During the early years, Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (Citycell) dominated the industry due to the absence of competition (Sheba Telecom struggled horribly to gain market share because of poor infrastructure).

Customers unmet needs and wants from mobile communication in Bangladesh

In our neighboring country, India, 3G mobile service had been introduced in 2008. Bangladeshi people also seeking for it as it allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data rates. In our country, data transfer rate is really slow. People often face buffering problems while using Internet, and so people want higher data transfer rate. People also want 3G because of its higher security features as it allows the UE (User Equipment) to authenticate the network it is attaching to, the user can be sure the network is the intended one and not an impersonator. As people are continuously being exposed to news of technological updates of other countries, the demand is being created for:

Customers’ buying behavior of mobile communication in Bangladesh

The customer's motive for buying telecom products has always been to communicate. In today’s fast pace world of globalization and with friends and family living and working in distant locations, face-to-face and letter based communication just does not suffice. People are always moving around, so land based telephones are also inconvenient. The only way for people to communicate is seemingly through mobile phones or through the Internet. The telecom industry provides services to combine both mobile phones and Internet and at low, affordable costs. Combined with additional services such SMS and advanced services of web applications such as Blackberry, the telecom industry offers a wide range of products and services that provides ample motive to the customer.

Market segmentation of mobile communication in Bangladesh

The act of dividing the existing market into different needs and wants in line with the distinct needs, characteristics and behaviours of these markets in order to serve them with different marketing strategies and mixes (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). They also added that the ability of the marketers to utilize a proper segmentation is one of the major determinants of their success or failure. While Hill and Jones (2008) argued that segmenting both the existing and potential markets is regarded to be a part of the strategic planning process. They further outlined that when a marketer identify its target markets/customers they will able to produce something which can offer the most value for money. The table on the next page shows available customer segments within the telecom industry.

Customer analysis of mobile communication in Bangladesh

This section mainly covers the need for market segmentation, customer buying behaviour and their emerging needs and wants. Generally speaking, the current trend of the telecom industry in Bangladesh has opened up the opportunity for almost every people of the society to enjoy connectivity through mobile phone (Azam, 2007). After considering the overall scenario of the society now it is very logical and evident to infer that the communication is above all seen as a necessity for us. Actually, here is the implication of the major opportunities for the telecom industry to grow lies and this allow them to increase their investments on IT, advertisements and promotion, more care for customer services, and many more. Along with the growing customers’ needs and as there is an intense competition exists in the market; the competitors are continuously trying to reduce the call rates, offerings various attractive offers make target customers hardly ever able to avoid being exposed to telecom products.

Background of mobile communication in Bangladesh

Bangladesh was the first South Asian country to adopt cellular technology back in 1993 by introducing Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). In fact, the first mobile license was issued back in 1989 but it took several years to launch the services. The network coverage and number of subscribers had remained very limited due to exorbitantly high subscription cost and call. In 1996, the then government considering the monopolistic environment prevailing in the sector awarded three GSM licenses aimed at breaking the monopoly and making the cellular technology affordable to the general masses. Since then, the country's cellular industry never looked back, now it has turned into the largest infrastructure provider during the last decade as sub sector within telecom sector. This sub-sector has created new opportunities by generating employment, facilitating education and health services for common people. The mobile communications sector in Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing industries and has helped boost the economic and social development in the country in three main ways:

Economic factors of mobile communication

Economic analysis focuses on the degree of market freedom, together with the availability and cost of labour and resources. It also focuses on the efficiency of financial markets and the general stability of the exchange rate and economy in general. The telecom industry in general is changing very rapidly due to the continuous improvement of technology and the emerging market conditions compel the company owners to think again and again about the production strategies. Growth of the industry is mainly dependent on the price elasticity of demand and supply of the products, capital formation, etc. (Mishra & Purl, 2007). Thus, the influence of economy on industry success is related with economy influence on price level, inflation, etc.