ufone quality managemnt

8/3/2019 ufone quality managemnt

1/27

Ufone Quality Management

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

Operational Management

SUBMITTED BY:

Faiza Majid.

Sahar Amjad.

SUBMITTED TO:

Sir Ishtiaq Alam.


2/27


Date: 30th dec.011

Comments

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------

S

ignature


3/27


---------------

Acknowledgement letter

First of all we bow our heads before Almighty Allah who enabled us

to accomplish this project and granted us with his mercy, Blessings and

help through out the stages of this work.


4/27


We are thankful to Sir Ishtiaq Alam for providing us such nice

opportunity of making doing this project and this report from which we have

learnt a lot. We are also thankful to our parents who supported us and

helped us in making this project, as it has to be.

As we are also students so mistakes, if any are purely a coincidence and

we apologize for them.

ContentsCOMPANY PROFILE.....................................................................................................2

MISSION..................................................................................................................2

VISION.....................................................................................................................3

Departments in Ufone.............................................................................................3

Structure of the Organization:................................................................................3

Ufones Management Strives for......................................................................4

Ufone always goes for Effectiveness because they only focus on their Goal

Attainment (by Ufone personnel):.......................................................................4

Level of priority.......................................................................................................4

Quality:...................................................................................................................4

Ufone Managing Quality.............................................................................................4


5/27


How well the company is managing its quality?........................................................4

Landmark by Ufone:............................................................................................5

Ufone and teradata....................................................................................................6

Total Quality Management:........................................................................................7

Ufone Quality management:...................................................................................8

Benchmarks:...........................................................................................................8

Competitive advantage:.........................................................................................8

Differentiation Strategy:.........................................................................................9

Continuous improvement:......................................................................................9

Employee empowerment:.....................................................................................10

Training Of Personnel Training:.........................................................................10

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM:........................................................................10

Franchise working Process:...............................................................................11

Reasons for customer switching:.......................................................................11

Quality Certification:.............................................................................................12

Cost of quality:......................................................................................................12

Billing system of Ufone:.....................................................................................16

Social Responsibility.............................................................................................17

Customer satisfaction...........................................................................................17

Benefits provided to loyal customers:...............................................................17

Strategies to Maintain Customer Satisfaction:...................................................17

Measurement of Customer Satisfaction:............................................................18

Measurement of Customer Satisfaction:


6/27


COMPANY PROFILE

The company commenced its operations under the brand name of Ufone from

Islamabad on January 29 2001. Ufone expanded its coverage and has added new

cities and highways to its coverage network. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone

is now owned by Etisalat. During the year, as a consequence of PTCLs

privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates Telecommunication


7/27


Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of Ufone has also been

handed over to Etisalat. During the years, Ufone continued on the path to success.

The Company further expanded its coverage and has added new cities and

highways. Ufone has network coverage in more than 5885 locations and across all

major highways of the country. During the year Ufone adopted the policy of

simplified tariffs with no hidden charges, which resulted in positive impacts on the

usage trends of subscribers as well as total subscriber base, which has increased to

19.4 million. Ufone currently caters for International Roaming to more than 230 live

operators in more than 130 countries and introduced International roaming facility

for Prepaid subscribers in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates,

Singapore, Portugal, Thailand, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka,

Belgium and Kuwait with lowest rates, featuring no security deposit and activation

charges. GPRS Roaming facility is available with more than 115 Live Operators

across 85 countries. The company has also been awarded a new License forproviding cellular services in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Northern Areas.

MISSION

"Ufone, it's all about U! We are where you want to be At Ufone we aim to provide

you with wider coverage, superior connectivity, clear signals & voice quality.

Wherever you are, Ufone keeps you connected."

VISION

To be the leading telecommunication service provider in Pakistan by offering

innovate communication solutions for our customers while exceeding shareholder

value & employee expectation.

Departments in Ufone

The Following departments are currently working:

Human Resource Management

Marketing Department

Commercial Department

Sales Department


8/27


Finance Department

Payroll Department

Information Technology Department

Engineering Department

Administration

Auditing Department

Customer Care Sales & Services Center

Structure of the Organization:

In Ufone the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is centralized, all the

matters are to be reported to the main company and all the policies and targets are

approved at the higher level. But at the department level the structure is

decentralized.

In our point of view it has a hybrid organization structures this is the best structure

which best suits fast changing industries especially cellular industry. Because to

make work formally done hierarchy should be there so that people have a head on

them to whom they are suppose to report , not only this lower management a lower

non managerial people need leaders or someone to guide and look after them from

higher level. According to Ufone personnel, in telecom industry we need creativity,speed, and execution, written communication, attitude, knowledge & skills that are

why we prefer new and young talent thats why we hire fresh graduate each year.

So unless and until people dont have freedom to express their views and purpose

new ideas such organization cannot grow, and to support this view within each

department people should have decision making power and this can be done by

decentralizing.


9/27


Ufones Management Strives for

Ufone always goes for Effectiveness because they only focus on their Goal

Attainment (by Ufone personnel):

Level of priority

Low cost

Value added services

Packages

Customer services

Better quality service (connectivity and coverage)

Quality:Quality generally refers to a certain degree or level of excellence. The American

National Standards Institute and the American Society for Quality Control defined

quality as;

The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its

ability to satisfy given needs.

Ufone Managing Quality

How well the company is managing its quality?

In Pakistan we have 5 telecom giants working at their level best. Ufone, being thesecond largest cellular service provider, which is famous for the interesting andenjoyable advertisements, competing really hard to gain first position. Hence in

such competitive environment, quality factor counts a lot; with this the companiescan easily grab its customer attention. As stated in Ufones mission statement thatthey are aiming to provide a quality service. Which means Ufone is poised to face


10/27


the ever increasing challenges of the market and is confident it will attract newcustomers. It has the ability to retain its existing customer base with a high level ofcustomer satisfaction via optimum network service and a 24 hour call center

facility. Ufone packages offer the most competitive prices in the market with nocompromise on quality of service. Ufone face very strong competition from itscompetitors. It must offer lowest rates with better quality service. New features andservices should be introduced to make its customers loyal, happy and satisfied.

A strong focus will be on maintaining high quality of service, which is always abenchmark of Ufone, increasing usage and exploring new revenue streams onvalue added services, market visibility through various market initiatives to fulfillsubscribers satisfaction and demand and above all to increase the value ofinvestment for the shareholders

From the day first Ufone has been listening to its customer. If you see, the progress

in telecom Sector of Pakistan started a new journey with the dawn of newmillennium but the year which really brought a start was 2001. At that time therewere 3 cellular services providers networks were working in Pakistan, by the end offirst month of the new 2001 another cellular company came into the scene, Ufone,before the launch the company, it was already in the news, the reason wasthe logo of the company which was chosen by the potential customers of thecompany in a poll and the other reason was the interesting TV advertisement ofthis company.

Landmark by Ufone:

Ufone offered free incoming call first time in Pakistan in Cellular services. It was first to launch the GPRS services

First to introduce Multi-media Messaging Service (MMS) First mover in providing Prepaid roaming in Pakistan. Ufone also Nominated as Best Brand of The Year at The Telecoms World

Awards Middle East

Quality of Design (quality from the point of view of customer and involves

designing quality characteristics into a product.)


11/27


To design its service Ufone focuses on a necessity which is affordable by the

common man. Since its inception, Ufone has positioned its brand for masses. In

keeping with the upcoming competition and mar ket dynamics, Ufone increased

its focus on the youth segment (which comprises 50% of the population), with

the Prepay brand. By designing market focused products with a better quality.

Ufone was successful in achieving its goals. Ufones Prepay brand is now

considered to be one of the most favored brands by the youth market and is

followed by other mobile operators launching their respective brands for the

youth market.

Ufone has been designing its services to cater almost for all type of customers

like:

Public Demand: Lower/Rural youth

Uwon: Socio economic class

5 ka 15: Ladies

Post Pay: Business Class

Uth package: Youth

UKissan: hard-working farmers.

Ufone introduces different unique value added services to fulfill the day to day

changing needs and demands Plus Ufone Sales & Service Centers have been set up

to provide its customers quality services all under one roof you can walk in to any

Ufone Sales & Service Center for services like: Connection purchase, Bill payment,

SIM Activation, Number blocking in case of lost or stolen SIMs, Number change,Address change , Missed Call Notification, Call Forwarding, Conference Call , FNF

Activation / Change etc.

Quality of conformance (quality from the manufacturer's perspective

and seeks to ensure that the product is produced according to design.)

To drive excellent customer experience through high network service quality,

PTCL/Ufone used Framework to transform and centralize its Network Operations

Center (NOC).

The project also enabled accelerated business growth: the number of broadband

subscribers tripled in 2009, and the coverage area doubled.


12/27


Ufone and teradata: Teradata Pakistan is the world's leading Enterprise Data

Warehousing solutions provider . Today, more than 60% of the world's most

admired global companies use Teradata Pakistan's technology along with our

proven, time-tested leadership in data warehousing, Teradata paksitan' s offers a

wide variety of solutions for Customer Relationship Management, Supply and

Demand Chain Management, Financial Services, Enterprise Risk Management and

much more. Add accolades and awards from Gartner Intelligent Enterprise ,DM

Review and many other industry experts, and Teradata Pakistan is clearly the best

choice.

Abdul Aziz, chief executive officer, Ufone, said, "Ufone is constantly striving to

provide a very high quality of service and support to our customers across the

country. We have invested in Teradata's technology to better understand our

customers and gain insight into their needs to be able to respond with matching

services and offerings at competitive prices."

Since 2001 Ufone's analytical solutions from Teradata have provided a

comprehensive platform for intelligently storing information and analyzing those

information reserves. Ufone uses this information to re-invent its business to not

only offer innovative services but also to continuously enhancing quality of

services.

Ufone Not at its Best!

When we see PTA's stats, it is evident that Ufone has failed to produce solid sales

in recent months. Along with this down turn in sales, we see a decline in company'smorale that reflects through Ufone's marketing trends, promotions, advertisementsand its work force interactions.If we look at stats for 2008 and first half 2009 for Ufone, you will agree thatcompany did pretty well in grabbing customers along with it showed positivefinancial results.

It is not just a co-incidence that departure of Asher Yaqoob and emergence ofEtisalat's management marks the starting point of Ufone's decline. Ufoners willagree that Asher Yaqoob was the person who lifted Ufone back in 2007-08 when itwas facing serious marketing and network issues.Under Asher, Ufone offered most VAS than ever, and it is again not a co-incidencethat Ufone has stopped offering new VAS since Asher left Ufone.

Etisalat's involvement in Ufone's management is causing another source ofconfusion amongst the employees. First Saoud Abdulaziz Bin Hadef Al Shamsi was
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Propakistani/~3/xl-auQurC-8/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emailhttp://propakistani.pk/2009/08/02/akbar-khan-replaces-asher-yaqub-cmo-ufone/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/https://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N5ToSzmN5FPM4AalyGnDS-w2R1E/17Mjn0RqLxNPJbdylQ2doh7Rbdw/1/pahttps://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N5ToSzmN5FPM4AalyGnDS-w2R1E/17Mjn0RqLxNPJbdylQ2doh7Rbdw/0/pahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Propakistani/~3/xl-auQurC-8/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emailhttp://propakistani.pk/2009/08/02/akbar-khan-replaces-asher-yaqub-cmo-ufone/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/


13/27


appointed as deputy CEO then Walid Irshad became group CEO of PTCL and Ufonein parallel. Ufone's management is sandwiched between Etisalat's officials, hencenot given a free hand to play the game. If we look at company's attitude towards

work force, a hint of strictness can easily be felt.We have seen what Etisalat's management did to PTCL and now its Ufone's turn tobear the brunt.

If we talk about services, we see a major shift in Ufone's policy for monetizing inevery possible way. This part is defaming the company amongst the customers.

In terms of promotions, Ufone is heavily relying on SIM lagao offer and despite ofthe demand, we are not seeing any 30 second package from the company. (Youcan avail 30 second package through voice bundles, but there is no recognizedoffer like Zong, Telenor, Mobilink and Warid are offering)

Total Quality Management:

A philosophy of management that is driven by continual improvement and

responding to customer needs and expectations

The term Quality management has a specific meaning within many business

sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good quality' by the

more general definition (but rather to ensure that an organization or product is

consistent), can be considered to have four main components: quality planning,

quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Quality management is

focused not only on product/service quality, but also the means to achieve it.

Quality management therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as

well as products to achieve more consistent quality.

Ufone Quality management:

Ufone is doing improvement in there every field all the time. They are improving

the sound quality; the management is working hard for total quality Ufone wants to

give us a better and the best connection which can equal every other connection.

As the Slogan of the Ufone says its all about U so it cares about its people and

the members of Ufone. It wants to give the best to its customers with the best

quality and minimum rate.
http://propakistani.pk/2009/11/10/walid-irshaid-to-become-group-ceo-of-ptcl-ufone/http://propakistani.pk/2009/11/10/walid-irshaid-to-become-group-ceo-of-ptcl-ufone/


14/27


Benchmarks:

Ufone is using humorous theme in its ads which has become its benchmark. People

enjoy watching, discussing and following Ufone ads the most. And it is the biggestachievement of ufone in recent times.

Competitive advantage:

Its an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value

than competitors offer. Ufone strategizes to gain more and more competitive

advantages. It also uses these competitive advantages well enough for its

promotion. Currently Ufone is enjoying the following competitive advantages:-

Introduced the service of GPRS and hence took the competitive advantage.

Lowest overall call rates

Value added Services (VAS)

Call block service

Corporate color

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY:

To cope up with the growing competition, Ufone has always been a head of its competitors. In

todays world, the only way to success is to gain a competitive edge. Ufones competitive

strategies are Customer intimacy and Differentiation. Ufone has always taken keen interest in

serving better to its users. UN matchless call and SMS rates have given an edge to Ufone againstits competitors. We can consider Warid telecom as the major competitor today, because of its

rates. But Ufone outclass Warid with better quality and coverage.

DIFFERENTIATION

In these days of intense competition marketers find it hard to differentiate their

services from those of competitors. Now customer care about only price. An

unsatisfied customer will immediately go for brand switching. Thus leaving a

customer unsatisfied and not meeting his/her demands is out of question for

marketers.

Differentiation Strategy:


15/27


Ufone satisfies its customers by providing best of the postpaid service. In postpaidUfone differentiate itself on the basis of;

QualityPriceTechnology

Continuous improvement:

Ufone has made an interface on their website as Complaints & Feedback page in

which Ufone is actually taking feedback and complaints of its customer, by asking

them to share their thoughts with Ufone and work on it because Ufone is committed

to provide the highest standard of services to customers via its brand experience

and sales service.


16/27


Customer complaint form

According to an article, Ufone Gain Profits 57%, Revenues 14% in FY11 (October

11, 2011), written by Bilal Sarwari, is that regardless of unfavorable financialcircumstances restricting development in Pakistan, still Ufone carried on to updateits network with some other improvements as well as enhance performance insmooth sequence which results in top quality of customer satisfaction. In the pastyear, Ufone launched a variety of revolutionary services to eye-catching call ratesserving the requirements of various users. The youth portion had been additionallyincreased by way of starting brand new packages and offers e.g. Uth Nonstop Offer,Uth Full Time Mufta Offer and Uth Alaa Offer. These kinds of presents receivedincredible reputation within the youngsters section adding significant profits.

Furthermore, one of many assignments concentrating on top quality customers hadbeen identified at international level and also Ufone had been presented with Best

Customer Services Innovation award from the prestigious Global TelecomsBusiness.

Employee empowerment:

Changes have been brought in Ufone due to HRM

Extrinsically motivated employees but for Ufone intrinsic are more important

Emplyoyee satisfaction.

Empowerment is the transfer of authorities from a senior to a junior or we can say

delegating powers to another person is empowerment. Ufone is a very friendly

employer and lets every personnel work efficiently. It lets every individual have theauthority of taking decisions and performing tasks at his own level in the best

possible way. This freedom creates a sense of ownership in each employee and he

becomes more concerned about his job. When the freedom level is created,

employees feel happy to work with the organization and hence interact in a friendly

way with the customers, thus enhancing the organizations goodwill


17/27


Training Of Personnel Training:

Personnel mean all levels of management. Ufone has its own trainers who provide

training to all levels of management. It also calls foreign trainers for maintaininginternational standards. This type is called outsourced training. Specific training

focuses on the important things needed to be taught to the personnel. This means

that this training differs from person to person. Where as general training is given

to every individual working at Ufone, like personality grooming etc.

Objectives of Training:

After giving training to employees they will be able to handle angry

customers.

There performance level will increase

Will be able to deal with the aggression of people

They will understand the ways to manage there anger and also of customers.

Group cohesiveness will increase

MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEM:

Is the process of evaluating, monitoring and controlling the various sub-units of

the organization so that there is effective and efficient allocation and utilization of

resources in achieving the predetermined goals

Ufone has got a well-established management control system, which is working

under the supervision of human resource department. The responsibility of thisdepartment is to make and review the conduct rules of Ufone. Through this

department they have been able to keep proper checks and balances on their

employees.

Ufone is basically equal employment opportunity organization. Almost 65% of its

employees are male and 35% are female. The job description of each and every

employee is predefined. Performance appraisal is done on annual basis. Average

age of Ufone employee is between 30 to 40 years. This shows that they prefer

young and energetic people for their middle and lower level management. High

profile well experienced persons are considered for top-level management. The

employees are indeed very satisfied and motivated


18/27


The human resource of Ufone is highly skillful, educated and committed towards

their work. Mostly people working in Ufone are MBAs and masters in specialized

fields. According to them their human resource is their biggest assets and they

want committed people. Their human resource department is a well-established

department working on career development and compensation of their employees.

A continuous training is conducted inside and outside the organization to improve

the skills of the employee. On achieving different target different intrinsic and

extrinsic rewards are given. In Ufone the environment is very useful but friendly.

They also prefer young and energetic people. The reason according to them for this

is that young people can work for more hours.

Franchise working Process:

MIB:

MIB is abbreviation of management information bulletin, for rules and regulation of

every promotion, service or activities management route the MIB to the internal

mailing system which will be followed by the whole organization including

Franchise.

Credit Limit:

For doing activities like postpaid , prepaid activation , new connection, other

service charges franchisee deposit Rs. 500,000 as security deposit. Franchise is

allow to make the activities with this limit of Rs. 500,000 when limit is across then

franchise is follow to more deposit of the same amount for further activities

Reasons for customer switching:

The reasons for customer switching can be identified as following:

Pricing (High price, unfair pricing, deceptive pricing)

Inconvenience (Wait for service, wait for appointment)

Core service failure (Service mistakes, Billing errors)

Service encounter failure (Uncaring, impolite, unresponsive behavior)

Response to service failure (Negative response, no response, reluctant

response)


19/27


Competition (Found better service)

Ethical problem (Cheating, Unsafe)

Involuntary switching (customer moved, provider closed)

Coverage in some areas is not strong due to lack of towers in those areas.

Like Narowal, Manga Mandi, Bhalwal.

Ufone helpline is not efficient, subscribers are facing problems due to it

Like they have to wait for the representative for a long time or the call is

dropped. And the line remains busy sometimes.

Abrupt induction of hefty number of new connections is resulting in adverse

affects on network due to overload

Quality Certification:

Ufone is not ISO certified organization. While Mobilink have ISO 9002 quality

management system certification for the billing, engineering department and

customer service contact center. Maybe that is why the Ufone is at the second

position in telecom industry.

Cost of quality:

Training Cost:

Ufone gives proper training to its staff to focus on the communication skills, to havepatience element in them and have guts to convince the customers to become the


20/27


loyal customers by always send them satisfied as they leave the office. This isimportant because if ufone loses one customer, then it loses more 100 customers.Everything from a Salam said by a guard, to Thanks for visiting Ufone by a

customer relationship manager is pre-recorded in a documented form.

Hiring Cost:

Choosing the Right Person at Right Place in Right Time. Ufone Hire those people

who are efficient in communication skills because the employee represents his

company while talking to the customer. Hiring Cost is sunk cost means if who hire a

wrong person the cost you have incurred on recruiting him cant be return.

Ufone gives employment to those people who are efficient in communication skillslike clearly speaking the words, avoiding usage of vague words and using the wordswhich are easily understood by the customer, carefully selecting words whilecommunicating anything to the customer because the employee represents hiscompany while talking to the customer, having tolerance level to avoid

aggressiveness while dealing with hypercustomers, having good listening skills tounderstand the words spoken by customer as he has originally intended, etc.

This means that Ufone wants everything to be perfect. UFONE is constantly workinghard to introduce its Value Added Services to the market for maximum customersatisfaction.

There are certain Failure Factor of VAS as well , Although Ufone Vas is very

successful in market but some of the vas like UHealth, Ufone RishtaPoint,

Less awareness of product in consumer. Social Reliable ( Service like UHealth, Ufone rishat, people not much relay

socially)

Price ( price of some product is very high)

But still Ufone is struggling hard to serve best service.

Ufone has personnel directly interacting with customers, who send the customers

satisfied to their homes before leaving UFONE office.Ufone, the leader in

innovation, recently launched a mobile handset named the Uth Futura. Once again

Ufone has proven to be a pioneer in presenting the latest technology to the

Pakistani market. Till date there had been no gadget in the market professing togive the customers high speed 3G internet. With its introduction of Ufone has

presented a plethora of online opportunities for customers in partnership with PTCL.


21/27


This unique handset has the ability to replace cutting edge technology with its

unique features and hi speed internet. Uth Futura is a dual mode GSM+EVDO

handset which gives the user lightning fast 3G internet speed of up to 3.1Mbps and

the ability to make calls, socialise and stream online videos.

Appraisal cost

To further exceed their customer expectations, a maintenance charge of 1.1% isdeducted on every recharge of ufone along with government taxes. At the time ofaccount recharge, a service charge of 5% (on scratch card/utopup face value) +Government taxes, on all transactions via ULoad or scratch cards. This is just todeliver the quality service to their customers.Ufone inspectors and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) conduct

inspections, surveys, tests or performance audit of quality of Internet services of

Broadband Service Providers (BSPs) in order to ensure maximum customerssatisfaction in their respective coverage areas. BSPs will carry out quality testing

surveys of their Internet services on quarterly in addition to telecom regulators own

conducted surveys and tests in order to provide uninterrupted and speedy Internet

services to the users, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stated in draft of

Broadband Quality of Service Regulations 2011. The BSP(s) shall extend full co-

operation and provide all assistance to the representative/ inspecting officer (s) in

carrying out the tests and surveys. The authority may engage, if circumstances so

require, third party/consultants to conduct quality of service audit, the draft

regulations added. The inspecting officer shall prepare an inspection report of such

QoS inspections, which clearly spell out the shortfalls observed during such

inspection. This report shall be provided to the BSPs. The BSPs shall immediately

take all remedial measures to remove the shortfalls identified in the report and

submit compliance report within 30 days by confirming that all stated shortfalls

have been removed. PTA regulations will be implemented by all BSP (s) in

accordance with defined the KPI(s) for Broadband services. These KPI(s) shall act as

benchmarks for determining QoS standards for Broadband from the consumers

perspective. The actual download speed available to the subscriber shall be

measured. Keeping the reasonable loading level in the intra network links up to ISP

node, and the fact that in general for normal broadband operations data rate is

lower than the advertised/plan data rate, the data speed must be at least 60% of

the advertised speed of broadband service plan, both download and upload, andthis must be experienced at least 70% of the time. For example, if users

broadband download service plan is 1000 Kbps, a pass result shall be considered if
http://pta.gov.pk/http://pta.gov.pk/


22/27


data speed is 600 Kbps or better. Each BSP(s) shall maintain record of all data

collected against each QoS parameter/factor tested as prescribed by the authority.

The data collected in the testing phase shall be submitted to the Authority within

thirty (30) days of the end of each quarter to which the data relates or at such

intervals as the authority may direct from time to time and in the form and format

as prescribed by the Authority. The BSP(s) shall keep a record of the said quality

tests and surveys, in such form and manner as the Authority may specify. This

record shall at all times be open to inspection and audit by the Authority or

representative of the Authority, with or without notice to the BSP(s).

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued regulations for all cellularoperators aimed at ensuring maximum subscribers satisfaction on the quality ofGPRS and EDGE services. The regulations shall be called GPRS/EDGE Quality ofService Standards Regulations, 2010. PTA has explained the criterion of the qualityof service shall be changed time to time keeping in view the emergence of newtechnology, demand of customers and capacity of cellular operators.

All licensees providing GPRS and EDGE services shall adopt the performancestandards termed mandatory requirement by the authority, which can modify,delete and add standards for rating on the basis of the extend of coveragedeployment and review of new technologies, the regulations stated. All operatorsshall carry out quality of service testing of GPRS/ EDGE in accordance withavailability network and services; link, upload and download speeds, mobility andretain-ability.

The test and surveys shall be designed to meet the applicability, end-to-endtesting, ease of measurement and similar treatment of rural and urban region interms of service offers. The PTA may depute its representative for supervisingquality of services surveys and testing to be carried out by operators themselves.

The cellular operators shall maintain record of all data collected against eachquality of service survey, testing and different factors, which will be submitted tothe authority at certain intervals. All record must be safe for next three years byoperators as necessary compliance.

The cellular operators must update their data in analytical form so it is always openfor inspection and audit of the authority or representative of authority, theregulations added.

The regulations said that the authority may conduct inspections, survey, test ormake surprise checks through its representative. It may also conduct performance


23/27


audit of operators quality of service from time tot time to ensure that users oftelecommunication services get quality of services guaranteed by serviceproviders.

PTA may decide to provide information of frequency testing, geographical routesand testing times to operators in advance on the basis of consumer complainrecord, coverage claim of the cellular operator and previous results.

The cellular operators shall extend full co-operation with all required assistance toinspecting officer of PTA in carrying out testing and surveys. The authority mayengage, if required, a third party or a group of consultants to conduct a quality ofservice audit.

The inspecting officer shall prepare an inspection report of quality of serviceresults, which clearly spell out shortfall observed during the testing process andsubmitted to the operators. The cellular operators shall take all remedial measures

to remove the shortfalls identified in the report and submit a compliance reportwithin 30 days by confirming that all shortfalls have been removed.

PTA will publish test or survey results and rating of the operators for information ofgeneral public.

Failure cost(enternal/internal cost)

According to Ufone personnel, Ufone Not at its Best , by PTA's stats, it is evidentthat Ufone has failed to produce solid sales in recent months. Along with this downturn in sales, there is a certain decline in company's morale that reflects throughUfone's marketing trends, promotions, advertisements and its work forceinteractions. Stats for 2008 and first half 2009 for Ufone, says that company didpretty well in grabbing customers along with it showed positive financial results.Itis not just a co-incidence that departure of Asher Yaqoob and emergence ofEtisalat's management marks the starting point of Ufone's decline. According to it,that Asher Yaqoob was the person who lifted Ufone back in 2007-08 when it wasfacing serious marketing and network issues.Under Asher, Ufone offered most VASthan ever, and it is again not a co-incidence that Ufone has stopped offering newVAS since Asher left Ufone.

Etisalat's involvement in Ufone's management is causing another source ofconfusion amongst the employees. First Saoud Abdulaziz Bin Hadef Al Shamsi wasappointed as deputy CEO then Walid Irshad became group CEO of PTCL and Ufonein parallel. Ufone's management is sandwiched between Etisalat's officials, hencenot given a free hand to play the game. If we look at company's attitude towardswork force, a hint of strictness can easily be felt. We have seen what Etisalat'smanagement did to PTCL and now its Ufone's turn to bear the brunt. If we talk
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Propakistani/~3/xl-auQurC-8/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emailhttp://propakistani.pk/2009/08/02/akbar-khan-replaces-asher-yaqub-cmo-ufone/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/11/10/walid-irshaid-to-become-group-ceo-of-ptcl-ufone/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Propakistani/~3/xl-auQurC-8/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emailhttp://propakistani.pk/2009/08/02/akbar-khan-replaces-asher-yaqub-cmo-ufone/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/10/02/ufone-gets-deputy-ceo/http://propakistani.pk/2009/11/10/walid-irshaid-to-become-group-ceo-of-ptcl-ufone/


24/27


about services, we see a major shift in Ufone's policy for monetizing in everypossible way. This part is defaming the company amongst the customers.

In terms of promotions, Ufone is heavily relying on SIM lagao offer and despite ofthe demand, we are not seeing any 30 second package from the company. (Youcan avail 30 second package through voice bundles, but there is no recognizedoffer like Zong, Telenor, Mobilink and Warid are offering. Lastly I will talk aboutadvertisements, which were top notch once, but maybe Ufone needs to change theidea of hilarious scripts.

If we talk about Post-Pay , Although the product is very much popular in market but

there is some failure aspects of theproduct.

Lack awareness about packages in consumer mind.

Less advertisement about post pay.

Billing system (due to delay in bill delivery is very hot issue in Ufone )

Billing system of Ufone:

Powered by Huawei, Ufones billing system for postpaid customers is causing

problems, as it has stopped updating records for bill payments, call records,

reported by inside sources and Ufone customers. This system failure has resulted

into blockage of outgoing calls and GPRS data for those who reached their credit

limit. Reportedly, Ufones customers are unable to make their calls despite their bill

payments. Ufones customers have informed ProPakistani (blog for telecom related

news) as well that they are deprived of any outgoing calls and GPRS data. They

confirmed us that they are consistently calling helpline but CSRs are not givingthem any deadlines. However, CSRs are confirming that system is not available and

they cant help customers in this.

It merits mentioning here that this billing system was recently deployed by Huawei,

but it could not deliver the required standards. It may be recalled that we have

already reported increasing distance between Ufone and Huawei due to such

failures. When contacted Ufones spokesman regarding Ufones billing system

problems, he said that there is no such issue This is not the first time Huawei has

failed to deliver services. Since, the project of US 550 Million dollars was awarded

to Huawei to Ufone, we have consistently been hearing undeliverable reports. At

this point of time, when Persona and Zong are agressively promoting their Post Paidpackages, it would be difficult for Ufone to retain its position with such issues.


25/27


Ufone lost at least 300,000 call records for its post paid numbers, last month,resulting into a total damage of at least 1.7 million rupees, told us sources in thecompany. Data was found missing for at least 11,000 post paid numbers, while

system didnt record their CDRs (Call Detailed Records), due to unknown error inUfones billing system. It was learned that at least 300,000 CDRs were foundmissing including local and/or international calls. It merits mentioning here thatUfone is using Huaweis billing solutions while we know that infrastructuremanufacturers (in most cases) provide after-sale support to cellular companies.When we asked about the incident, and whether Ufone, Huawei or the customer willbear the loss, Ufones spokesperson didnt respond to our query, despite severalreminders.

On other hands, Huaweis Spokesperson didnt confirm the situation nor denied.Ufones billing solution is facing issues since Huawei deployed it. Customers, in thepast, used to receive nominal bills one month while double bills the next month,

due to batch processing of records.

Social Responsibility

Ufone is not only a competitive telecom leader in the industry but an organization

that has always been working towards an orderly corporate social responsibility

plan including ways of supporting those in need .We asked the manager of Ufone

that what Socially Responsibility they have performed recently they told us that,

Employees of Ufone, one of the leading telecom companies of Pakistan, have

pledged one day basic salary as humanitarian aid to the devastated victims of the

conflict of Swat. Due to terrorist conflict in Swat, Dir, Buner and Malakand has

begun in the affected areas with over 700,000 people have displaced while manystill remain stranded. Due to continuous curfew and blocked main highways and

roads leading to troubled areas, people are struggling really badly. Ufone with a

unanimous decision of all the employees and management has decided to come

forward yet again and share the burden of these displaced immigrants. Mr. Abdul

Aziz, President & CEO Ufone Said: This gesture will not only help those in need but

also be in line with Ufones tradition of being a socially responsibly entity.

Ufone recently unveiled an exclusive web portal, www.pakistantumhetoho.com.pk

which advocates the positive side of the nation and in time will act as a preemptive

effort to counter the global negative tag associated with the country. The web

portal was launched through a press conference and numerous prominent mediapersonnel, bloggers and journalists were in attendance. Pakistan Tum He To Ho, is a

unique and vibrant campaign which promotes Pakistans rich culture and heritage.


26/27


The web portal has a multitude of offerings which accentuate the great historical

significance of Pakistani festivals, music, art, tourism, food and ancient civilizations

etc. The web portal provides an opportunity for the people residing in Pakistan and

abroad to come together on one platform and obtain knowledge about the country

and appreciate the available content on the site which reflects the positivity and

the nationalistic spirit.

Customer satisfaction

Benefits provided to loyal customers:

Ufone has set a specific time period and amount spent for declaring customers asLoyal Customers. When the customers spend that particular amount of money,be it be prepay or postpay customers, or they use their Ufone SIM for a particulartime period, then Ufone calls them its Loyal CustomersWhen customers become loyal to the company, they avail door to door servicesfrom a specially maintained department consisting of Personal Executives.

These customers are provided bonuses from the revenues earned from them. Alsothey are allowed to participate in certain campaigns and promotion programs ofUfone. These customers also avail special offers like discount on bills, free SMS andcalls.

Strategies to Maintain Customer Satisfaction:

Ufone personnel are taught to deal with the customers with the courteous attitude.Also promotion policies are developed from time to time to retain the customerslost. This is done by

Giving discounts on calls rates. Giving free SMS bundles, free minutes etc., to the customers who dont use

their SIMs for 2 to 3 months. Call centre records the calls done by customers to maintain quality

assurance. Greeting messages are sent to customers on religious events. Birthday messages or cards are sent to the loyal customers. Door step services are provided to the customers. These services give a

competitive edge to Ufone.

Measurement of Customer Satisfaction:

Ufone measures its customers satisfaction by Recording their calls as they call the help line. Also, it conducts surveys, campaigns etc., that help it to know what do the

customers want, what are their basic needs, and to how much extent they


27/27


are satisfied. Ithas a special department which takes necessary steps fromtime to time to constantly improve its quality.

The best thing in Ufone is, that it accepts the complains going against it, and

satisfies the customers, that those pointed out issues will be solved. It finds out the reasons that why are its customers shifting from Ufone to any

other network. Then it analyses the faults in its network and takes necessarysteps to minimize them.

Flow activities that are necessary to achieve the Quality

-------------------------------------------End---------------------------------------------

ufone quality managemnt

Documents