What makes the Indian mobile market tick?

RINGING ON: Most Indians rate their phone service at 7 out of 10, says survey.

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Keywords: Survey, Mobile Phones Market

New Delhi: India will have 30 crore mobile users by month end, second to China and ahead of the USA.

An extensive survey by Consumer Voice reveals most Indians rate their phone service at 7 out of 10 with BPL scoring the highest and MTNL bringing up the rear.

Satisfaction Index (on a scale of 10)

• BPL: 7.7
• MTNL: 6.9

On a scale of 1 to 10 most service providers scored above 7 when it comes to satisfaction index.

However, CNN-IBN did a little survey and found out that the picture wasn't that rosy after all.

Delhiites spend the most up to Rs 500 a month while Kolkata users spend less than Rs 300.

The survey also reveals poor network is the biggest problem and while Idea got the most credits for network quality government run BSNL was voted the worst.

“Networks are the main problems,” says Managing Editor, Consumer Voice, Prof Sri Ram Khanna.

Ninety per cent of respondents say they get pesky promotional calls. And they are also upset because it takes up to six minutes to reach a cell company's helpline as against a legal requirement of one minute.

Customer Care Response

• Aircel: 2.6 minutes
• BSNL 3.36 minutes
• BPL, Vodafone, TATA, Reliance, Idea: 5 to 6 minutes

Almost half the consumers change plans to save call charges and choose the provider based on connectivity and reputation.

What will gladden the hearts of mobile operators is that a vast majority of consumers say they will not change their service even if they get number portability.