SUBSCRIBERS OF INDIAN MOBILE TELECOM: SATISFACTION WITH EXPERIENCE AND LOYALTY

Telecommunication industry in India is booming especially the cellular mobile and smartphones market. The era of liberalisation and privatisation opened up the Telecom sector in India two decades back. The monopoly of BSNL ended and private service providers entered the fray. The story has come a long way and currently broadband and 4G have become a basic necessity and smartphones an obsession. Telecom scenario has witnessed expansions as well as takeovers and the number of operators differs across the Telecom circles. Mobile number portability has also largely changed the subscriber count and telecom operators are facing the heat to retain their customers. The current scenario warrants a satisfying experience and service providers face stiff competition on this account. Research was undertaken to ascertain the satisfaction levels with telecom experience in the cellular mobile setor The subscriber perceptions about antecedents of satisfaction with telecom experience like service quality, service delivery, support services, and perceived value were ascertained. The loyalty intentions of subscribers were also gauged. 756 Telecom (pre-paid and post-paid) subscribers from all five telecom service providers registered in Chennai (Tamilnadu) Telecom circle were su veyed. This paper presents the Structural Equation Modelling path analysis and the extent of impact of variables