Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Provided by Public and Private Sector Telecom Service Provider

Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits between Public and Private Telecom Service Provider

Project Report submitted in partial fulfillment for award of the diploma - Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)

Date of Submission:

Submitted by:Sonam Lata PGDM/08/831

Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers

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Faculty Comments

Name of Faculty Signature of Faculty Date of Presentation Date of Checking Comments

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_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

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Declaration

I Sonam lata, 831, PGDM final year student of Shri Balwant Institute of Management hereby declare that the final project report entitled Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers is an original research work and same has not been submitted to any other institute for the award of other degree. A seminar presentation of the project report was made on. and the suggestions as approved by the faculty were duly incorporated.

Signature of Project Mentor Countersigned

Signature of Candidate Project Coordinator

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Acknowledgements

Success of every project depends largely on the SELF & encouragement and guidance of many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this study project. With immense pleasure, I would like to present the project report for Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers. It has been an enriching experience for me which would not have possible without the goodwill and support of the people around. As a student of Shri Balwant Institute of Management, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who helped me during my project. Words are insufficient to express my gratitude towards Ms. Rekha Goutam(faculty PGDM HR) who helped me at every step whenever needed. At last but not the least my grateful thanks is also extended to Prof- R.K.Ratan. My thanks to all my faculty members for the proper guidance and assistance extended by them. I am also grateful to my parents and friends to encourage & giving me moral support. However, I accept the sole responsibility for any possible error of omission and would be extremely grateful to the readers of this project report if they bring such mistakes to my notices.

Sonam Lata

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AbstractMobile penetration is currently exploding in India and Bharti Airtel has been riding the crest of the huge mobile industry wave that has been formed. Vast market opportunities have now opened up the playing field in Indian telecom market and also have made it much more competitive. In this type of competitive environment it will be interesting to find out comparison between AIRTEL and BSNL fringe benefits. Fringe Benefit is any privilege, service, facility or amenity, directly or indirectly provided to employee by an employer. Its reimbursement for any purpose. The term Fringe benefits refer to various extra benefits provided to the employees, in addition to the compensation paid in the form of wage or salary. These benefits can be defined as any wage cost not directly connected with the employees productive effort, performance, service or sacrifice. It is also defined as those benefits which are provided by an employer to or for the benefit of an employee and which are not in the form of wages, salaries and time-related payments. Different terms are used to denote fringe benefits. They are welfare measures, social charges, social security measures, supplements, sub-wages, employee benefits etc. In addition workers commonly receive such benefits as holiday with pay, low cost meals, low-rent housing etc. Such additions to the wage proper are sometimes referred to as fringe benefits. Benefits that have no relation to employment or wages should not be regarded as fringe benefits even though they may constitute a significant part of the workers total income. BSNL can provide the better fringe benefits to employees as compare to Bhartia Airtel. There are different methods of companies to deciding the how much we can pay to our employees. Fringe benefits can play major role in performance of the employees. Its a strong motivational factor. High fringe benefits high satisfaction level.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................1 1.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY....................................................................................................................5 1.2 REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE.............................................................................................................6 1.2.1 THE COST OF STAYING HOME SICK ....................................................................................6 1.2.2 TRAI ASSESSES THE LIFETIME VALIDITY OFFERS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS. (TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA)(BRIEF ARTICLE)...................................7 1.2.4. UNION TALKS SEEN AS KEY AS G.M. MAKES CASE FOR FUNDS .............................11 1.3 CONCEPTUALIZATION..............................................................................................................................15 1.4 FOCUS OF THE PROBLEM.........................................................................................................................16 1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.....................................................................................................................17 1.6 HYPOTHESES.........................................................................................................................................18 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................19 2.1 RESEARCH DESIGN................................................................................................................................19 2.2 UNIVERSE & SURVEY POPULATION .........................................................................................................19 2.3 SAMPLE...............................................................................................................................................20 2.4 COLLECTION OF DATA...........................................................................................................................20 2.5 ANALYSIS PATTERN...............................................................................................................................20 3 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY..................................................................................................21 3.1 MODERN GROWTH................................................................................................................................21 3.2 HISTORY..............................................................................................................................................21 3.1.1 Introduction of the telephone.....................................................................................................21 3.1.2 Further developments................................................................................................................22 3.2 EMERGENCE AS A MAJOR PLAYER.............................................................................................................23 3.2.1 Liberalisation of telcommunications in India............................................................................23 3.2.2 Growth of mobile technology....................................................................................................25 3.3 REVENUE AND GROWTH..........................................................................................................................25 3.4 TELEPHONE..........................................................................................................................................26 3.4.1 Wireless telephones...................................................................................................................27 3.4.2 Landlines...................................................................................................................................28 3.5 INTERNET.............................................................................................................................................29 3.5.1 Broadband.................................................................................................................................30 3.6 BROADCASTING....................................................................................................................................30 3.7 NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS................................................................................................................31 3.8 MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (MNP)...................................................................................................31 3.9 INTERNATIONAL.....................................................................................................................................32 3.9.1 Submarine cables.......................................................................................................................32 4 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION......................................................................................32 4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................................32 4.2 SWOT ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................48 4.2.1 Strengths....................................................................................................................................48 4.2.2 Weaknesses................................................................................................................................49 4.2.3 Opportunities.............................................................................................................................50 4.2.4 Threats.......................................................................................................................................51 4.3 CASE STUDY ANALYSIS.........................................................................................................................52

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 4.3.1 Summary....................................................................................................................................56 4.3.2 Fact Analysis.............................................................................................................................58 4.3.3 Problem Solving Primary Issues & Secondary Issues ...........................................................59 4.3.4 Recommendations and Suggestions...........................................................................................60 4.3.5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................61 4.4 PESTE ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................................62 4.4.1 Political/Legal Environment .....................................................................................................62 4.4.2 Economic Environment .............................................................................................................63 4.4.3 Socio-Cultural Environment .....................................................................................................64 4.4.4 Technological Environment ......................................................................................................65 5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY......................................................................................................66 6 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................67 7 SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................68 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................................69 EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/TELECOMSECTOR..........................................................................69 WWW.ANSWERS.COM/TOPIC/TELECOMSECTOR...................................................................69 .WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/TELECOM................................................................................................69 WWW.HR.COM/ - UNITED STATES................................................................................................69 BEAKWARE.COM/RESOURCES/DEFAULT.PHP.........................................................................69 WWW.HUMANRESOURCESIQ.COMEN.........................................................................................69 WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/HUMAN_RESOURCES...........................................................................69 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY C.R.KOTHARI...........................................................................70 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT K.ASWATHAPA..........................................................70 9 ANNEXURE..........................................................................................................................................70 Name: _____________________________________________________.....................................70 Designation: _______________________________________________.....................................70 Organizations Name: ________________________________________.....................................70

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1 IntroductionFringe Benefit meaning: Any privilege, service, facility or amenity, directly or indirectly provided to employee by an employer Any reimbursement for any purpose. Any free or concessional ticket for private journeys of employees and family members Contribution to approved superannuation fund

The term Fringe benefits refer to various extra benefits provided to the employees, in addition to the compensation paid in the form of wage or salary. These benefits can be defined as any wage cost not directly connected with the employees productive effort, performance, service or sacrifice. It is also defined as those benefits which are provided by an employer to or for the benefit of an employee and which are not in the form of wages, salaries and time-related payments. Different terms are used to denote fringe benefits. They are welfare measures, social charges, social security measures, supplements, sub-wages, employee benefits etc. In addition workers commonly receive such benefits as holiday with pay, low cost meals, low-rent housing etc. Such additions to the wage proper are sometimes referred to as fringe benefits. Benefits that have no relation to employment or wages should not be regarded as fringe benefits even though they may constitute a significant part of the workers total income. Thus, fringe benefits are those monetary and non-monetary benefits given to the employees during and post employment period which are connected with employment but not to the employees contributions to the organization. Coverage: Fringe benefits covers bonus, social security measures, retirement benefits like provident fund, gratuity, pension, workmens compensation, housing, medical, canteen, co-operative credit, consumer stores, educational facilities, recreational facilities, financial advice and so on. OBJECTIVES OF FRINGE BENEFITS: The important objectives of fringe benefits are: 1. To create and improve sound industrial relations 2. To boost up employee morale.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 3. To motivate the employees by identifying and satisfying their unsatisfied needs. 4. To provide qualitative work environment and work life. 5. To provide security to the employees against social risks like old age benefits and maternity benefits. 6. To protect the health of the employees and to provide safety to the employees against accidents. 7. To promote employees welfare by providing welfare measures like recreation facilities. 8. To create a sense of belongingness among employees and to retain them. Hence, fringe benefits are called golden hand-cuffs. 9. To meet requirements of various legislations relating to fringe benefits. NEED FOR EXTENDING FRINGE BENEFITS Most organisation have been extending the fringe to their employees, year after year, for the following reasons 1. EMPLOYEE DEMANDS:-Employees demand more the valued types of fringe benefits rather than pay hike because of reduction in tax burden. 2. TRADE UNIONS DEMANDS:-Trades unions compete with each other for getting more fringe benefits to their members. 3. EPLOYERS PREFERENCE:-fringe benefits motivate the employees for better contribution to the organisation. 4. AS A SOCIAL SECURITY:-Fringe benefits provide social security to employees against various contingencies. 5. TO IMPROVE HUMAN RELATIONS:-Human relations are maintained when employers are satisfied economically, social and psychologically.

TYPES OF FRINGE BENEFITS: 1. For Employment Security : Benefits under this head include unemployment, insurance, technological adjustment pay, leave travel pay, overtime pay, level for negotiation, leave for maternity, leave for grievances, holidays, cost of living bonus, call-back pay, lay-off, retiring rooms, jobs to the sons/daughters of the employees and the like.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 2. For Health Protection: Benefits under this head include accident insurance, disability insurance, health insurance, hospitalization, life insurance, medical care, sick benefits, sick leave, etc. 3. For Old Age and Retirement: Benefits under this category include: deferred income plans, pension, gratuity, provident fund, old age assistance, old age counseling , medical benefits for retired employees, traveling concession to retired employees, jobs to sons/daughters of the deceased employee and the like. 4. For Personnel Identification, Participation and Stimulation: This category covers the following benefits: anniversary awards, attendance bonus, canteen, cooperative credit societies, educational facilities, beauty parlor services, housing, income tax aid, counseling, quality bonus, recreational programs, stress counseling, safety measures etc. CLASSIFICATION OF FRINGE BENEFITS 1. PAYEMENT FOR TIME NOT WORKED:-Benefits under this category include sick leave with pay, vacation pay, paid rest and relief time, paid lunch periods, grievance time, bargaining time, travel time etc. 2. EXTRA TIME FOR TIME WORKED:-This category covers benefits such as premium pay, incentive bonus, shift premium, old age insurance, profit sharing, unemployment compensation, deewali or pooja bonus, food cost subsidy, housing subsidy, recreation etc.

3. EMPLOYEE SECURITY:-Provided with the benefits of confirmation of the employeeon the job creates a sense of job security. Further, a minimum and continuous wage or salary gives a sense of security to life.

4. SAFETY AND HEALTH:-In India, the Factories Act, 1948, stipulated certainrequirements regarding working conditions with a view to providing a safe working environment Fringe benefits are compensations made to an employee beyond the regular benefit of being paid for their work. Some fringe benefits are fairly standard, such as offering a few days of sick time or paid vacation time. Others can be significantly greater, and more rare. Key executives in large companies might also enjoy fringe benefits like use of time-share condominiums, paid continuing education, use of a company jet, use of a company credit card, discounted or free health club memberships, and a significant amount of paid vacation. Most people who work full time in the US could probably not get along without fringe benefits. For example, offering health insurance to employees, where the employer pays part of the insurance is a

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers typical example of fringe benefits. According to the laws in some states, companies of a certain size must offer health insurance with some sharing of payment at least to a full-time employee. Some companies avoid this by employing more part-time workers. Most companies, however, realize that fringe benefits like health insurance contribute to the well being of their employees. Whenever possible, they try to offer at least partially discounted insurance to an employee, even if they are not legally required to do so. Fringe benefits like sick or vacation time tend to be fairly standard as well, even if an employee does not work full time. These paid days off do tend to have a cap on them. For example, a new employee might get a weeks vacation time to start, and eight to ten days of sick time for year. Employees entering higher-level positions may be offered greater fringe benefits as incentive to join a company. In fact, in fields where there is a high demand for workers, such as nursing and teaching, some unusual fringe benefits may be offered to attract employees. Small school districts have gotten quite creative in this respect, since teacher salaries are still relatively low. A few unusual fringe benefits offered by school districts have been paid housing or use of private lakes for fishing. More likely are paid incentives for joining a teaching staff such as hiring bonuses, offers to fund continuing education so teachers get higher degrees and thus higher pay, or offering mentor programs for new teachers. Registered nurses are badly needed due to new requirements on nurse/patient ratio. This has led to uncommonly large hiring bonuses, agreements to pay off student loans for new nurses, and generous health insurance and time off packages. Other fields with high demands for workers and low worker supply are likely to offer the most attractive fringe benefits packages. Sometimes the fringe benefits turn out to be greatly needed. For example, the rising cost of private health insurance often makes obtaining a job with a good health plan highly desirable. Programs like 401ks can help employees save money for the future. Where job compensation is not commensurate with money needed to live comfortably, housing allowances, or company housing can often make the difference between being able to take a job and looking elsewhere.

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1.1

Significance of the StudyThe study provide an insight, how fringe benefits play a crucial role in the increasing the performance of employees. Performance of employees will be increased after getting the fringe benefits. The employees will perform their work with best of their abilities. The fringe benefits play a crucial role in achieving the organizational objectives. Motivation level should be high after getting benefits. Efficiency of employees should be increased. Enhance the leadership quality should be there. Productivity should be increased.

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1.2

Review of Existing Literature

1.2.1 The Cost of Staying Home Sick It sounded like the responsible course of action when President Obama and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people with flu symptoms to stay at home so they do not infect others in the community and to keep any sick children out of school as well. So far, the new swine flu virus has caused only mild disease in the United States, but it has spread through most of the country, making it likely that rising numbers of people will be developing symptoms. But what are civic-minded workers to do when staying home will cost many their daily pay and, in a recession-plagued economy, possibly their jobs if employers become exasperated over their absence? Roughly 60 million American workers have no paid sick leave, and only a minority can draw pay if they stay home with sick children. The lack of paid leave is especially acute in this country among low-wage workers, food-service workers and part-timers, among others. Many other countries do better. According to Dr. Jody Heymann, director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University, more than 160 countries ensure that all their citizens receive paid sick leave and more than 110 of them guarantee paid leave from the first day of illness. If President Obama is serious about responsible action to control infectious disease threats, he should back legislation to grant Americans at least seven paid sick days a year long enough to stay home until an influenza infection subsides. Then virtually all Americans could heed his advice, and we would all be safer.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 1.2.2 TRAI assesses the lifetime validity offers of service providers.(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)(Brief Article) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has identified the grey areas in the lifetime validity scheme offers for free incoming calls that was recently launched by service operators. According to TRAI, these offers could have implications such as a rise in the number of incoming calls on mobiles and outgoing calls from landlines.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 1.2.3 Telecom service providers must ensure a high uptime of 99.99% or more HCL BPO, a division of HCL Technologies, started its venture in 2001, and now is a dominant player in the BPO field drawing the revenue of $232.15 mn. With over 11,400 professionals operating out of India, the UK and the US, HCL BPO runs twenty-one delivery centers. HCL BPO's focus pertains to telecom, retail and CPG, banking and financial services, insurance, hi-tech, manufacturing, media, publishing and entertainment, and utilities. Apart from this, the company services various areas of operations that include supply chain management, finance and accounting services, knowledge and legal services, CRM, technical support services and data management services. Vijay Reddy, senior VP, technologies, who has more than twenty-five years experience in various areas including technology and strategy deployment, is responsible for the overall technology functions of the company. According to him, a CTO needs to wear multiple caps as a 'finance officer' to tailor the expenses to the defined budgets, and deliver the best value for money. He manages big budgets and expenditures and also is cautious about the implementation of new technology and processes keeping in mind the business, regulatory, and security risks. He also holds the responsibilities of a HR manager. His role includes bringing business value to the system, portraying the benefits of investments and profits, and also of selling IT as a service. In an interaction with VOICE&DATA, he talks about the company's future plans. Excerpts What are your green initiatives? A BPO environment demands a scalable, fail proof, and adoptable technology infrastructure to meet its ever changing needs. HCL's BPO organization has designed its ICT infrastructure to meet these demands, and is consistently providing an uptime of more than 99%. A global delivery architecture was planned, designed, and deployed to cater to the rapidly changing requirements of the business. HCL's BPO organization is dedicated to green IT, and the ICT infrastructure at the BPO organization can be described as the one that embodies the green IT initiatives of HCL. Continual efforts are being put to save power, and promote environmentally sustainable computing/IT practices to ensure that computing resources are used efficiently. These efforts are implemented by deploying blade and virtual server infrastructure, and optimal desktop configurations. How has technology evolved over the past few years in the BPO industry? Technology infrastructure, service, and skills have seen drastic changes over the past few years. This is due to a number of initiatives with regard to bringing in the best practices, streamline processes, augment skills, consolidate infrastructure for improving cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Consolidation has resulted in significant savings of both capital and operational expenses. The global WAN infrastructure has evolved from point-to-point international private leased circuits to meshed high capacity point-to-point connectivity that has not only reduced the costs, but has also resulted in a scalable

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers network. Similar consolidations were done in servers and storage for better utilization of resources, increasing availability and scalability, and reducing management overheads. Development of the platform for infrastructure management has brought in an enhanced value for internal and external customers. Automated tools and defined processes have provided the facility to monitor, manage, and support the infrastructure to provide both proactive and reactive services by capturing every event. 24x7 has become a buzz word in IT services, and our support teams are already providing round the clock services. Technology practices in HCL BPO are certified for ISO 20000, the international standard for IT service management. Our services are also certified for information security standard ISO 27001. Technology department with the support of HCL management has succeeded in bringing a process oriented support model. Which latest technologies is HCL BPO planning to deploy in the next couple of years? Our present infrastructure is built with a mix of multiple technologies, and keeping technology upgraded is of utmost necessity to meet client requirements, bring about cost effectiveness and infrastructure efficiency. Technology initiatives that we plan to invest upon in the near future are implementation of web 2.0; IT services platform upgrade, security operation center, open source software, and remote support for services. How do you see technologies like 3G and WiMax helping your business? Technologies such as 3G and WiMax are commendable technologies in the new age, and I am sure that the implementation and usage of these technologies will grow exponentially in the next few years. Given the nature of work and business that we deal with, HCL's BPO organization does not as yet foresee a requirement to implement these technologies. For HCL BPO's centers/branches in the remote areas, how do you cope with connectivity challenges? What kind of ICT tools do you use? HCL BPO provides global connectivity through trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes for the core network. This ensures the availability of a point-of-presence across all global centers. It also introduces challenges to provide fast and secure connectivity across these centers. HCL's BPO organization has a number of delivery centers in Chennai, Noida, the UK, and the US. All these centers are centrally located and well networked with the rest of HCL's global centers. HCL's BPO organization ensures a high level of resilience, while connecting its delivery centers using disparate routes and multiple suppliers. We have developed and nurtured an exceptional IT management platform to manage our ICT infrastructure and to measure end-to-end performance from our global

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers command center. It is also our practice to consolidate critical infrastructure in pre-designated central locations where they can be easily managed. For this very purpose, remote connectivity plays a pivotal role of connecting mobile users across all the centers; and for that we have deployed a safe, secure, and reliable solution. All the users are connected through the Internet, and are routed through a secured encrypted tunnel to our network using Cisco network access control. What would you say are the major technological trends in the outsourcing industry? Change in the telecom infrastructure and Indian regulation has already resulted in a major positive aspect for the outsourcing industry. Additionally, technologies such as MPLS, VoIP has brought about a considerable change in the way outsourcing worked in the past and present. Technology has also proved its importance in operational areas with customer relationship management, business process reengineering, workforce management, and many other operational excellence solutions. The major trends in the outsourcing industry today would be the various green IT initiatives, effective resource utilization is a need, and technologies such as virtualization (server, desktop, and application), blade technologies, storage consolidations, and improved security management for data privacy has positively and effectively helped in fulfilling the needs. What are the major issues being faced by the outsourcing industry today where technology deployment is concerned? Technological challenges can be looked at from different perspectives; it can be as simple as availability of adequate man-skills, or it can be managing ROI of the technology deployed. Product obsolescence is one of the main challenges, as products get obsolete at a much quicker rate now than it did before. What are your expectations from telecom service providers to help run your company efficiently and smoothly? Telecom service providers must ensure a high uptime of 99.99% or more. With the advent of superior technology practices, they should also adapt to industry practices such as IT service management, and should come up with good problem management, root cause analysis and resolution practices. There has also been a paradigm shift in customer expectations; and to address this, a variable pricing model for advanced technologies is of utmost importance.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers 1.2.4. Union Talks Seen as Key as G.M. Makes Case for Funds G.M. will file what is expected to be the largest restructuring plan of its 100-year history on Tuesday, a step it must take to justify its use of a $13.4 billion loan package from the federal government. The plan will outline in considerable detail, over as many as 900 pages, how G.M. will further cut its work force, shutter more factories in North America and reduce its lineup of brands to just four, from eight, according to executives knowledgeable about its contents. The remaining core brands will be Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. But G.M.s plan to shrink its way to profitability will not mean much without an agreement with the U.A.W. On Monday, G.M. pressed union leaders in a meeting in Detroit for a deal on financing what was the centerpiece of the 2007 U.A.W. contract a perpetual, G.M.-financed trust to cover health care costs of hundreds of thousands of retired hourly workers and their surviving spouses. Both sides were hopeful that either an agreement, or at least significant progress, might be achieved by the time G.M. submitted its plan, according to three people familiar with the substance of the negotiations. Talks are also continuing between the U.A.W. and Ford Motor and Chrysler. But the focus of negotiations has been with G.M., which has to address how a company that lost more than $20 billion last year can afford $5 billion a year in medical bills. In its overall plan, G.M. needs to show President Obamas new cabinet-level task force that it can substantially reduce costs and make a convincing case about its long-term viability by a March 31 deadline. The company has already extended buyout offers to its entire United States unionized work force to reduce their ranks by another 20,000 jobs. It has also announced a 14 percent reduction in salaried workers around the world, leaving many of its white-collar workers in Detroit with limited prospects. The plan will also probably include revisions in executive compensation and targets for cutting dealers and brands like Saturn and Pontiac. Details of the plan have been closely guarded. G.M.s board met Monday to review its contents, which will not be completed possibly until Tuesday, according to one G.M. official who asked not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers Chrysler was also said to be in the final stages of completing its plan on Monday, which will include further cuts in its manufacturing operations in the United States and more details on its strategy to rebuild its product lineup with a network of foreign alliances. The plan was still under discussion late Monday with officials at Cerberus Capital Management, owner of an 80 percent stake, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The White House press secretary said Monday that the Obama administration was anxious to see the plans, but shared no timetable on when the presidents task force would comment. Were anxious to take a look at the plans, understanding that it is extremely important to have a strong and viable auto industry, the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters aboard Air Force One. Obviously that is going to require some restructuring to ensure its viability. On Monday, the president designated the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, to oversee the task force on the auto industry. The move surprised executives at G.M. and Chrysler, who were expecting the appointment of a car czar who would play an active part in negotiations between G.M. and Chrysler and their unions and lenders. The task force is not likely to complete any review of the plans for at least a week or 10 days, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The president expects negotiations between G.M. and the U.A.W. and others to continue without pause for the plans submission, the official said. Talks between G.M. and its bondholders have cooled while the automaker considers the framework of an agreement offered by the bondholders to reduce G.M.s debt to $9 billion, from $28 billion. The U.A.W. talks, however, have been constant since Saturday, when Ron Gettelfinger, the unions president, at one point cut off discussions with G.M. only to drive across town to take up the topic of retiree health care with Ford. Ford has not received government loans, so it is significant that the U.A.W. appears to believe it must address retiree health care at all three Detroit auto companies simultaneously. G.M. has the most at stake with the U.A.W. Its future obligations for retiree health care are estimated at $47 billion, and by next year it is required by its contract to contribute more than $10 billion to the trust set up in 2007.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers The company, which nearly ran out of money before receiving the first $9.4 billion of its $13.4 billion in late December, is pressing the U.A.W. to accept stock for as much as 50 percent of its next contribution to the trust, according to two people knowledgeable about the discussions. Mr. Gettelfinger, for his part, is trying to protect one of the jewels of the U.A.W. contract, which is essentially health care for life for anyone who worked on the assembly line and their surviving spouses. G.M. has already canceled health care for more than 100,000 of its salaried retirees. The U.A.W. at this point understands that it can very well turn into the villain of this whole thing by insisting that its workers receive health care benefits that few workers do, said Gary N. Chaison, a labor expert at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. U.A.W. members are bracing for bad news, and worrying that their health care plan will be sacrificed to keep G.M. from going bankrupt. Where does it all stop? said Mike Green, president of U.A.W. Local No. 652, which represents workers in Lansing, Mich. It would be devastating. Our typical person works between 30 and 40 years. They did their part. Why should they have it taken away with the sweep of a pen? 1.2.5. City Employee Pay Is Outpacing Private Sector, Report Says Bolstered in part by Mayor Michael R. Bloombergs spending, the average New York City employee cost the city $107,000 a year in wages, health insurance, pension and other benefits in the 2008 fiscal year, an increase of 63 percent since 2000, according to a new report. City worker compensation grew twice as fast as that of employees in the private sector and elsewhere in the public sector during the same period, the Citizens Budget Commission said in the report, which was released on Thursday. The increase was driven by contractual raises that outpaced the inflation rate, and by the rising cost of health insurance and pension benefits, said the commission, a business-backed research group. The group said those benefits have remained exceptionally generous under Mr. Bloomberg. And with the city staring at a projected $7 billion deficit by 2011, fiscal watchdogs are intensifying their calls for the Bloomberg administration to act more aggressively to control employee costs. These skyrocketing costs are stunning, said Carol Kellermann, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, and they impose an enormous, and growing, burden on increasingly strained taxpayers. Corrective action is essential and can no longer be delayed. Mr. Bloomberg has long defended giving healthy raises to the citys workforce of 281,000 to attract the best people and make city jobs competitive with those in the suburbs. Some critics contend that recent

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers contracts he has negotiated with teachers and police officers, among others, are too generous, and have been driven by Mr. Bloombergs political aims as he seeks warm relations with powerful unions. Critics also say that Mr. Bloomberg has not been forceful enough addressing soaring health and pension benefit costs. Those costs have jumped by 182 percent since 2000, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, in contrast to a 52 percent increase for other state and local governments, and a 40 percent increase for private industry. Part of the reason that health benefits have jumped so much, the report said, is the citys longstanding practice, unchanged by Mr. Bloomberg, to pay 100 percent of health insurance premiums for employees and their families, as well as for retirees and their spouses. The report noted that Most other employers require their workers to pay some share of the premium. Other factors are beyond the mayors control, according to the report, such as actuarial recalculations and lower investment returns, as evidenced recently by the impact of the recession. Still, Charles M. Brecher, the commissions research director, said: His record is mixed. On the pay side, he started out doing a terrific job, based on productivity, but his performance has slipped. On fringe benefits I dont think hes been aggressive enough to tackle the problems. Mr. Bloomberg has had some success, however, battling the Legislatures seemingly endless desire to sweeten pension benefits. Last month, Mr. Bloomberg developed the local component of an ambitious plan unveiled by Gov. David A. Paterson seeking to reduce benefits for newly hired state and local workers by creating a new pension category, which would require employees to work longer and retire later to receive pension benefits, a move long opposed by the unions. Indeed, the Citizens Budget Commission praises that proposal, and urges the State Legislature to pass it. I think the report is very clear, said Marc LaVorgna, a Bloomberg spokesman. It lays the blame at the foot of pension costs. Costs for employees are always going to go up. Thats not irregular. But we have been extraordinarily burdened by a pension system that we have no control over. The report recommends that the city do more to restructure health insurance costs by negotiating with the Municipal Labor Committee. The administration hopes to save $200 million; the commission says larger savings should be pursued on a more urgent basis. Asked about spiraling health care costs, Mr. LaVorgna said: Rapidly rising costs are not unique to New York City government. Thats a national problem and theres really not a local solution to whats a national health care problem. Over all, the report found that city employee pay rose to an average of $69,000 annually as of last June 30, up from $52,000 in 2000, an annual increase of 3.6 percent, while inflation rose an average of 3.2

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers percent during the same period. Average benefits now cost almost $38,000 a year, up from $13,000 a year.

1.3

Conceptualization

The project report is based on Human Resource. Various studies will be done to make a comparative analysis of fringe benefits between public and private telecom service providers. It would include the various reforms in policies of public and private telecom service providers.

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1.4

Focus of the ProblemFind out variances in fringe benefits provided by public and private telecom service providers. Fringe benefits affecting the performance of employees. Impact of fringe benefits on performance. Motivation level of employees affected. Work efficiency increased. Find out the attrition rate. Find out how the employees can become loyal. Productivity should be increased. Is there any conflict between the employees regarding to fringe benefits.

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1.5

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to find out gaps between fringe benefits provided by public and private telecom service provider. Performance of employees is effected fringe benefits. To find out the motivation level of employees. Effect on efficiency because of Fringe benefits. Level of loyalty due o fringe benefits. To keep in line with the prevailing practices of offering benefits and services which are given by similar concerns. To recruit and retain the best personnel To provide for the needs of employees and protect them against certain hazards of life, particularly those which an individual cannot himself provide for To increase and improve employee morale and create a helpful and positive attitude on the part of workers towards their employers To make the organization a dominant influence in the lives of its employees with a view to gaining their loyalty and co-operation, encouraging them to greater productive efforts To improve and furnish the organizational image in the eyes of the public with a view to improving its market position and bringing about product acceptance by it. To recognize the official trade unions bargaining strength, for a strong trade union generally constrains an employer to adopt a sound benefits and services programme for his employees.

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1.6

HypothesesH0: There is gap between the fringe benefits provided by public and private telecom service providers. H1: There is no gap between the fringe benefits provided by public and private telecom service providers.

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2 Research MethodologyResearch is an academic activity and the term is used in a technical sense. According to Clifford, research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solution, collecting, organizing and evaluating data making deductions and reaching conclusion, and at least carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps, the research process that is generally adopted to study the research problem and basic logics behind them. The basic steps in this research are shown in the chart below

2.1

Research Design

The formidable problem that follows the task of defining the research problem is the preparation of design of the research project, popularly known as the research design. Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much, by what means concerns an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design". A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. The research will be Exploratory in nature. Exploratory research studies are also termed as formulative research studies. The main purpose of such studies is that of formulating a problem for more precise investigation or to developing the working hypothesis from an operational point of view. The research design was characterized by flexibility in order to be sensitive to the unexpected and to discover insight not previously recognized.

2.2

Universe & Survey Population

Population: A population is a group of individuals persons, objects, or items from which samples are taken for measurement for example a population of presidents or professors, books or students. Universe:

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Employees of public and private sector telecom service provider

Sample: A sample is a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole. When dealing with people, it can be defined as a set of respondents (people) selected from a larger population for the purpose of a survey. Sample Size: 60 Employees

2.3

Sample

Sampling: Sampling is the act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample, or a representative part of a population for the purpose of determining parameters or characteristics of the whole population. The desirability of a sampling procedure depends on both its vulnerability to error and its cost. However, economy and reliability are competing ends, because, to reduce error often requires an increased expenditure of resources. Of the two types of statistical errors, only sampling error can be controlled by exercising care in determining the method for choosing the sample. Sampling Type: Convenient sampling Sampling Unit: Individual

2.4

Collection of DataPrimary data: The primary data should be collected through questionnaires. Secondary Data: These will be extracted from existing literature in magazines, Internet, books, newspapers, etc.

Method of collecting data

2.5

Analysis Pattern

Analysis of data refers to the analyzing and interpreting the data collected. The data should be analyzed with the help of charts, diagrams and tables.

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3 Organization of the Study3.1 Modern growthA large population, low telephony penetration levels, and a rise in consumers' income and spending owing to strong economic growth have helped make India the fastest-growing telecom market in the world. The first and largest operator is the state-owned incumbent BSNL, which is also the 7th largest telecom company in the world in terms of its number of subscribers. BSNL was created by corporatization of the erstwhile DTS (Department of Telecommunication Services), a government unit responsible for provision of telephony services. Subsequently, after the telecommunication policies were revised to allow private operators, companies such as Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Tata Indicom, Idea Cellular, Aircel and Loop Mobile have entered the space. see major operators in India. In 2008-09, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. India's mobile phone market is the fastest growing in the world, with companies adding some 16.67 million new customers a month. The total number of telephones in the country crossed the 543 million mark on Oct 2009.The overall teledensity has increased to 44.85% in Oct 2009. In the wireless segment, 17.65 million subscribers have been added in Nov 2009. The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & WLL (F)) base is more than 543.20 million now. The wireline segment subscriber base stood at 37.16 million with a decline of 0.13 million in Nov 2009.

3.2

History

Telecom in the real sense means transfer of information between two distant points in space. The popular meaning of telecom always involves electrical signals and nowadays people exclude postal or any other raw telecommunication methods from its meaning. Therefore, the history of Indian telecom can be started with the introduction of telegraph.

3.1.1 Introduction of the telephoneIn 1880, two telephone companies namely The Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and The Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to establish telephone exchanges in India. The permission was refused on the grounds that the establishment of telephones was a Government monopoly and that the Government itself would undertake the work. By 1881, the Government changed its earlier decision and a licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai (Madras) and Ahmedabad. 28 January 1882, is a Red Letter Day in the history of telephone in India. On this day Major E. Baring, Member of the

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchange in Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. The exchange at Kolkata named "Central Exchange" was opened at third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street. The Central Telephone Exchange had 93 number of subscribers. Bombay also witnessed the opening of Telephone Exchange in 1882.

3.1.2 Further developments 1902 - First wireless telegraph station established between Saugor Islands and Sandheads. 1907 - First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur. 1913-1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla. 23 July 1927 - Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with beam stations at Khadki and Daund, inaugurated by Lord Irwin by exchanging greetings with the King of England. 1933 - Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India. 1953 - 12 channel carrier system introduced. 1960 - First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Kanpur and Lucknow. 1975 - First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri telephone exchanges. 1976 - First digital microwave junction introduced. 1979 - First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune. 1980 - First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at Secunderabad, A.P.. 1983 - First analog Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines commissioned at Mumbai. 1984 - C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of digital exchanges. 1985 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis in Delhi.

While all the major cities and towns in the country were linked with telephones during the British period, the total number of telephones in 1948 was only around 80,000. Even after independence, growth was extremely slow. The telephone was a status symbol rather than being an instrument of utility. The

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers number of telephones grew leisurely to 980,000 in 1971, 2.15 million in 1981 and 5.07 million in 1991, the year economic reforms were initiated in the country. While certain innovative steps were taken from time to time, as for example introduction of the telex service in Mumbai in 1953 and commissioning of the first [subscriber trunk dialing] route between Delhi and Kanpur in 1960, the first waves of change were set going by Sam Pitroda in the eighties. He brought in a whiff of fresh air. The real transformation in scenario came with the announcement of the National Telecom Policy in 1994.

3.2

Emergence as a major player

In 1975, the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from P&T. DoT was responsible for telecom services in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. In 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for private investment as a part of Liberalisation-Privatization-Globalization policy. Therefore, it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from its operations wing. The Government of India corporatised the operations wing of DoT on 01 October 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Many private operators, such as Reliance Communications, Tata Telecom, Vodafone, Loop Mobile, Airtel, Idea etc., successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom market.

3.2.1 Liberalisation of telcommunications in IndiaThe Indian government was composed of many factions (parties) which had different ideologies. Some of them were willing to throw open the market to foreign players (the centrists) and others wanted the government to regulate infrastructure and restrict the involvement of foreign players. Due to this political background it was very difficult to bring about liberalization in telecommunications. When a bill was in parliament a majority vote had to be passed, and such a majority was difficult to obtain, given to the number of parties having different ideologies. Liberalization started in 1981 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts with Alcatel CIT of France to merge with the state owned Telecom Company (ITI), in an effort to set up 5,000,000 lines per year. But soon the policy was let down because of political opposition. She invited Sam Pitroda a US based NRI to set up a Center for Development of Telematics(C-DOT), however the plan failed due to political reasons. During this period, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi, many public sector organizations were set up like the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) , VSNL and MTNL. Many technological developments took place in this regime but still foreign players were not allowed to participate in the telecommunications business.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers The demand for telephones was ever increasing. It was during this period that the P.N Rao led government introduced the national telecommunications policy [NTP] in 1994 which brought changes in the following areas: ownership, service and regulation of telecommunications infrastructure. They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom companies and international players. But still complete ownership of facilities was restricted only to the government owned organizations. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the total stake. The multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy making.[16] During this period, the World Bank and ITU had advised the Indian Government to liberalize long distance services in order to release the monopoly of the state owned DoT and VSNL; and to enable competition in the long distance carrier business which would help reduce tariff's and better the economy of the country. The Rao run government instead liberalized the local services, taking the opposite political parties into confidence and assuring foreign involvement in the long distance business after 5 years. The country was divided into 20 telecommunication circles for basic telephony and 18 circles for mobile services. These circles were divided into category A, B and C depending on the value of the revenue in each circle. The government threw open the bids to one private company per circle along with government owned DoT per circle. For cellular service two service providers were allowed per circle and a 15 years license was given to each provider. During all these improvements, the government did face oppositions from ITI, DoT, MTNL, VSNL and other labor unions, but they managed to keep away from all the hurdles. After 1995 the government set up TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) which reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making. The DoT opposed this. The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced better liberalization policies. They split DoT in two- one policy maker and the other service provider (DTS) which was later renamed as BSNL. The proposal of raising the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by the opposite political party and leftist thinkers. Domestic business groups wanted the government to privatize VSNL. Finally in April 2002, the government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26% in VSNL and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises. TATA finally took 25% stake in VSNL. This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian Telecom Markets. After March 2000, the government became more liberal in making policies and issuing licenses to private operators. The government further reduced license fees for cellular service providers and increased the allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies. Because of all these factors, the service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling every common middle class family in India to afford a cell phone.

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3.2.2 Growth of mobile technologyIndia has become one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world. The mobile services were commercially launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 56 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions. However, after the number of proactive initiatives taken by regulator and licensor, the monthly mobile subscriber additions increased to around 2 million per month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05. Although mobile telephones followed the New Telecom Policy 1994, growth was tardy in the early years because of the high price of hand sets as well as the high tariff structure of mobile telephones. The New Telecom Policy in 1999, the industry heralded several pro consumer initiatives. Mobile subscriber additions started picking up. The number of mobile phones added throughout the country in 2003 was 16 million, followed by 22 million in 2004, 32 million in 2005 and 65 million in 2006. As of January 2009, total mobile phone subscribers numbered 362 million, having added 15 million that month alone [18]. India ranks second in mobile phone usage to China, with 506 million users as of November 2009. India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector. In addition to landline and mobile phones, some of the companies also provide the WLL service. The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$0.15 only. In 2005 alone 32 million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market. In March 2008 the total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber base in the country was 375 million, which represented a nearly 50% growth when compared with previous year. In April 2008 the Indian Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed all mobile phone service users to disconnect the usage of unbranded Chinese mobile phones that do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, because they pose a serious security risk to the country. Mobile network operators therefore planned to suspend the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8 % of all mobiles in the country) by 30 April.

3.3

Revenue and growth

The total revenue in the telecom service sector was Rs. 86,720 crore in 2005-06 as against Rs. 71, 674 crore in 2004-2005, registering a growth of 21%. The total investment in the telecom services sector reached Rs. 200,660 crore in 2005-06, up from Rs. 178,831 crore in the previous fiscal.

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers Telecommunication is the lifeline of the rapidly growing Information Technology industry. Internet subscriber base has risen to 6.94 million in 2005- 2006. Out of this 1.35 million were broadband connections. More than a billion people use the internet globally. Under the Bharat Nirman Programme, the Government of India will ensure that 66,822 revenue villages in the country, which have not yet been provided with a Village Public Telephone (VPT), will be connected. However doubts have been raised about what it would mean for the poor in the country. It is difficult to ascertain fully the employment potential of the telecom sector but the enormity of the opportunities can be gauged from the fact that there were 3.7 million Public Call Offices in December 2005up from 2.3 million in December 2004. The value added services (VAS) market within the mobile industry in India has the potential to grow from $500 million in 2006 to a whopping $10 billion by 2009.

3.4

Telephone

On landlines, intra circle calls are considered local calls while inter circle are considered long distance calls. Currently Government is working to integrate the whole country in one telecom circle. For long distance calls, you dial the area code prefixed with a zero. For international calls, you would dial "00" and the country code+area code+number. The country code for India is 91. Until recently, only the PSU's BSNL and MTNL were allowed to provide Basic Phone Service through copper wires in India. MTNL is operating in Delhi and Mumbai only and all other parts are covered by BSNL. However private operators have now entered the fray, although their focus is largely on the cellular business which is growing rapidly. Telephony Subscribers (Wireless and Landline): 543.20 million (Nov 2009) Cellphones: 506.04 million (Nov 2009) Land Lines: 37.16 million (Nov 2009) Yearly Cellphone Addition: 113.26 million (2007) Monthly Cellphone Addition: 17.65 million (Nov 2009) Teledensity: 46.32% (Nov 2009) Projected teledensity: 626 million, 46% of population by 2010.

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3.4.1 Wireless telephonesThe Mobile telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world. The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. The mobile service has seen phenomenal growth since 2000. In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connections have crossed fixed-line connections. India primarily follows the GSM mobile system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many smaller players, with operations in only a few states. International roaming agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers. Main article: List of mobile network operators of India The breakup of wireless subscriber base in India as of November 2009 is given below Operator Bharti Airtel Vodafone Essar BSNL Idea Cellular Tata Teleservices Aircel MTNL Loop Mobile MTS India HFCL Infotel All India Subscriber base 116,013,951 88,607,607 60,780,512 55,905,178 53,992,973 29,354,370 4,819,430 2,595,454 2,644,338 342,749 506,044,156

Reliance Communications 90,987,594

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers The list of ten states (including the metros Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in their respective states) with largest subscriber base as of September 2009 is given below

State Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh Tamil Nadu West Bengal Karnataka Rajasthan Gujarat Bihar All India

Subscriber base 58,789,949 57,033,513 45,449,460 32,540,049 28,867,734 27,742,395 27,475,585 27,434,896 471,726,205

Wireless density'" 51.96 26.32 63.66 42.58 34.28 46.76 39.09 45.49 25.04 33.09 37.71

Andhra Pradesh 37,126,048

Madhya Pradesh 24,923,739

Wireless density was calculated using projected population of states from the natural growth rates of 1991-2001 and population of 2001 census.

3.4.2 LandlinesLandline service in India is primarily run by BSNL/MTNL and Reliance Infocomm though there are several other private players too, such as Touchtel and Tata Teleservices. Landlines are facing stiff competition from mobile telephones. The competition has forced the landline services to become more efficient. The landline network quality has improved and landline connections are now usually available on demand, even in high density urban areas. The breakup of wireline subscriber base in India as of September 2009 is given below.

Operator BSNL MTNL Bharti Airtel

Subscriber base 28,446,969 3,514,454 2,928,254

Reliance Communications 1,152,237

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Tata Teleservices HFCL Infotel Teleservices Ltd All India

1,003,261 165,978 95,181 37,306,334

The list of eight states (including the metros Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in their respective states) with largest subscriber base as of September 2009 is given below.

State Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Kerala Uttar Pradesh Karnataka Delhi West Bengal

Subscriber base 5,996,912 3,620,729 3,534,211 2,803,049 2,751,296 2,632,225 2,490,253

Andhra Pradesh 2,477,755

3.5

Internet

The total subscriber base for internet in India is 13.54 million. The number of broadband connections in India has seen a continuous growth since the beginning of 2006. At the end of November 2009, total broadband connections in the country have reached 7.57 million. BSNL, Tata Teleservices, Airtel, Reliance Communications, Sify, MTNL, STPI, Netcom, Railtel, GAILTEL, You Telecom, Spice and Hathway are some of the major ISPs in India. TRAI has defined broadband as 256 kbit/s or higher. However, many ISPs advertise their service as broadband but don't offer the suggested speeds. Broadband in India is more expensive as compared to Western Europe/United Kingdom and United States. After economic liberalization in 1992, many private ISPs have entered the market, many with their own local loop and gateway infrastructures. The telecom services market is regulated by TRAI. ADSL providers include: Tata Communications Ltd. (VSNL) MTNL/BSNL

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Bharti Telecom (Airtel, Bharti Televentures) Reliance Infocomm

Because of the increase in ISPs and the quality of service Qos, It became cheaper to call India from around the world. Many Indians today, studying or living all around the world, are using calling cards to India to speak with their families back home. It used to be much more expensive prior to 2002.

3.5.1 BroadbandThe current definition of Broadband in India is speeds of 256 kbit/s. TRAI on July 2009 has recommened raising this limit to 2 Mbps. As of September 2009, India has 7.21 million broadband users. Although, India ranks one of the lowest provider of broadband speed as compared to other countries like Japan, South Korea or France. In the fixed line arena, BSNL and MTNL are the incumbents in their respective areas of operation and continue to enjoy the dominant service provider status in the domain of fixed line services. For example BSNL controls 79% of fixed line share in the country. On the other hand, in the mobile telephony space, Airtel controls 21.4% subscriber base followed by Reliance with 20.3%, BSNL with 18.6%, Vodafone with 14.7% subscriber base (as per June 2005 data). Airtel and BSNL have launched 8 Mbit/s & Reliance Communication offers 10 Mb/s broadband internet services in selected areas recently . For home users , the maximum speed for unlimited downloads is 2 Mbit/s , available for USD 60 (roughly , without taxes) per month.

3.6

Broadcasting

Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998) Radios: 116 million (1997) Television terrestrial broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997) Televisions: 110 million (2006) In India, only the government owned Doordarshan (Door = Distant = Tele, Darshan = Vision) is allowed to broadcast terrestrial television signals. It initially had one major National channel (DD National) and a Metro channel in some of the larger cities (also known as DD Metro).

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers Satellite/Cable television took off during the first Gulf War with CNN. There are no regulations against ownership of satellite dish antennas, or operation of cable television systems, which led to an explosion of viewership and channels, led by the Star TV group and Zee TV. Initially restricted to music and entertainment channels, viewership grew, giving rise to several channels in regional languages and many in the national language, Hindi. The main news channels available were CNN and BBC World. In the late 1990s, many current affairs and news channels sprouted, becoming immensely popular because of the alternative viewpoint they offered compared to Doordarshan. Some of the notable ones are Aaj Tak (means Till Today, run by the India Today group) and STAR News, CNN-IBN, Times Now, initially run by the NDTV group and their lead anchor, Prannoy Roy (NDTV now has its own channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV Profit, NDTV India and NDTV Imagine).New Delhi TeleVision.

3.7

Next generation networks

In the Next Generation Networks, multiple access networks can connect customers to a core network based on IP technology. These access networks include fibre optics or coaxial cable networks connected to fixed locations or customers connected through wi-fi as well as to 3G networks connected to mobile users. As a result, in the future, it would be impossible to identify whether the next generation network is a fixed or mobile network and the wireless access broadband would be used both for fixed and mobile services. It would then be futile to differentiate between fixed and mobile networks both fixed and mobile users will access services through a single core network. Indian telecom networks are not so intensive as developed countrys telecom networks and India's teledensity is low only in rural areas. 670,000 route kilometers (419,000 miles) of optical fibres has been laid in India by the major operators, even in remote areas and the process continues. BSNL alone, has laid optical fibre to 30,000 Telephone Exchanges out of their 36 Exchanges. Keeping in mind the viability of providing services in rural areas, an attractive solution appears to be one which offers multiple service facility at low costs. A rural network based on the extensive optical fibre network, using Internet Protocol and offering a variety of services and the availability of open platforms for service development, viz. the Next Generation Network, appears to be an attractive proposition. Fibre network can be easily converted to Next Generation network and then used for delivering multiple services at cheap cost.

3.8

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Number portability: TRAI announced the rules and regulations to be followed for the Mobile Number Portability in their draft release on 23 September 2009. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) allows users to retain their numbers, while shifting to a different service provider provided they follow the guidelines

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Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Between Public and Private Telecom Service Providers set by TRAI. Users are expected to holding the mobile number with a given provider for at least 90 days, before they decide to move to the other provider. As per news reports, Government of India decided to implement MNP from December 31st, 2009 in Metros & category A service areas and by March 20th, 2010 in rest of the country.

3.9

International Nine satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region). Nine gateway exchanges operating from Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad and Ernakulam.

3.9.1 Submarine cables LOCOM linking Chennai to Penang, Malaysia India-UAEcable linking Mumbai to Al Fujayrah, UAE. SEA-ME-WE 2, SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4 - (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe) with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai. Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with a landing site at Mumbai (2000). I-ME-WE with two landing sites at Mumbai (2009).

4 Data Analysis & Interpretation4.11.

Questionnaire AnalysisWhat is the criterion of allocating different benefits between different levels of employees?

Basis On the basis of grades On the basis of basic salary At the option of employees Any other (specify)

BSNL 30 0 0 0

Airtel 15 15 0 0

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Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that in BSNL criterion of allocating different benefits between different levels of employees is on the basis of graides, and in Bhartia Airtel its depends on the basis of the grades and on the basis of basic salary.

2.

How do you segregate and apportion the various fringe benefits between different grades and designations of employees?

Basis Same benefits for all grades and designations of employees Different benefits for different grades and designations of employees Increase the benefits according to increase in grade pay and designations of employees

BSNL 30 0 0

Airtel 13 3 14

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Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of BSNL all of segregate and apportion the various fringe benefits between different grades and designations of employees is based on Same benefits for all grades and designations of employees, and in Bhartia Airtel out of 30, 14 sayes its based on Increase the benefits according to increase in grade pay and designations of employees, 13 sayes that its based on Same benefits for all grades and designations of employees. 3. Which of the following Fringe Benefits (taxable in the hands of employee) are given in your organisation?

Basis Facility of interest-free or concessional housing loan Facility of interest-free or concessional car loan Facility of interest-free or concessional education loan Facility of interest-free or concessional personal loan Use of movable assets(motor car, other assets)

BSNL 30 30 30 30 8

Airtel 23 20 4 10 0

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Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of BSNL sayes that company can provide them Facility of interest-free or concessional housing loan, Facility of interestfree or concessional car loan, Facility of interest-free or concessional education loan, Facility of interestfree or concessional personal loan.

SBIM

35


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel sayes that company can provide some of them facility of interest-free or concessional housing loan, less no of employees can facilitate with facility of interest-free or concessional car loan, Facility of interestfree or concessional education loan, facility of interest-free or concessional personal loan.

4.

Benefits are provided in _______________ form.

SBIM

36


Basis Monetary Non- Monetary

BSNL 30 0

Airtel 30 0

Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 60 employees of Bhartia Airtel and BSNL says that they are benefitted by monetary benefitted.

5.

Benefits form what percentage of the total CTC package?

SBIM

37


Basis 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30

BSNL 12 5 8 3 2

Airtel 4 10 13 1 2

Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 13 employees says Benefits form what percentage of the total CTC package is 1520, 10 says that its 10-15 and out of 30 employees of BSNL 12 says that its 5-10, 8 employees says its 15-20.

6.

Your organisation provide a CTC package which is ___________

Basis Heavy on basic salary and other allowances Heavy on reimbursements and fringe benefits As per the negotiation by the employee

BSNL 23 5 2

Airtel 1 20 9

SBIM

38


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that organisation provide a CTC package out of 30 employees of BSNL 23 employees says Heavy on basic salary and other allowances, others says its heavy on reimbursements and fringe benefits.

SBIM

39


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that organisation provide a CTC package out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 20 says its based on heavy on reimbursements and fringe benefits, or 9 employees sys that its depends on As per the negotiation by the employee.

7.

Abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax with effect from assessment year 2010-11 will benefit

Basis The Company The Employees

BSNL 0 30

Airtel 30 0

SBIM

40


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that Abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax with effect from assessment year 2010-11 will benefit out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 30 says The Company and 30 employees of the BSNL says that it,s by emplouees.

8.

What will be the effect of providing more benefits to employees after the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax?

Basis Tax liability will increase and Net Take-Home-Pay

BSNL 30

Airtel 2

SBIM

41


decrease Tax liability will decrease and Net Take-Home-Pay increase

0

28

Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that will be the effect of providing more benefits to employees after the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 28 says tax liability will decrease and Net Take-Home-Pay increase, and 2 says tax liability will increase and Net Take-Home-Pay decrease. and 30 employees of the BSNL says that its tax liability will increase and Net Take-Home-Pay decrease 9. Who bears the liability of paying Fringe benefits Tax in your organisation?

Basis The employer The employee The employer but recover from employee Partially the employer and partially the employee

BSNL 0 30 0 0

Airtel 0 0 30 0

SBIM

42


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that bears the liability of paying Fringe benefits Tax in your organisation out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 30 says the employer but recover from employee. and 30 employees of the BSNL says that its the employee.

Rate on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 meaning Not preferable and 5 meaning preferable 10. Will the employees prefer more fringe benefits to more basic salary and allowances in the same CTC package in this period of rising prices, cost of living and tax liability ( after the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax)?

Basis 1 2 3 4

BSNL 0 2 11 14

Airtel 1 1 9 10

SBIM

43


5

5

8

Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of BSNL 14 employees says 4, 11 says 3,5 says 5.

SBIM

44


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 10 says 3, 9 says 3 and 8 says 5.

11. Will the organisation prefer giving more fringe benefits to more basic salary and allowances within the same CTC package to the employees during this time of economic downturn (after the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax)?

SBIM

45


Basis 1 2 3 4 5

BSNL 0 3 10 13 5

Airtel 0 1 8 9 12

Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of BSNL 13 says 4, 10 says 3 and 5 says 5.

SBIM

46


Interpretation: While going through data analysis it is found that out of 30 employees of Bhartia Airtel 12 says 5, 10 says 4 and 8 says 3.

SBIM

47


4.2

SWOT Ana

Documents

Comparative Analysis of Fringe Benefits Provided by Public and Private Sector Telecom Service Provider