Market study for providing advanced digital services in Lahore: Case: Wateen Telecom Ltd.

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to conduct a market study for the Abu-Dhabi based company located in Pakistan in the telecommunication industry: Wateen Telecom Ltd.; for improving and introducing new cable television service products, the advanced digital services (ADS).

The purpose is to study the company´s marketing microenvironment so as to understand the market place environment and consumers. The market place environment is based on the company, the operating environment and the competitors and the quantitative method is applied for analysing the consumers.

The purpose of the theoretical section is to provide a framework for the analyses essential in conducting a market study. The area of the study includes the competitive market environment that incorporates the Porter five forces model of the competitive environment, the competitor analysis using Lehmann and Winer model and the consumer analysis that includes segmenting and targeting concepts providing a base for identifying the specific customers for the services. The concept of marketing mix was reviewed to be applied on the basis of four P’s for providing ADS. Since ADS are in the form of product/service, the nature and characteristics of services in the industry are reviewed. Finally, a brief insight into the telecom industry and the transition phase from the analogue to digital platform is also presented.

The major contribution of this thesis is to provide the operating environment and consumer analyses and develop a marketing mix for the case company for positioning and differentiation prior to the launch of the particular services.

As ADS are the services provided over digital television and advanced digital television, the conception of this service is dependent on the set-top boxes. The ADS provided by Wateen comprises data on demand, internet on television, data broadcasting and television games. As it is a new service there is a risk of acceptance from the consumer market.