NTC vs Ncell Mobile – Attitude Survey

Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Ncell (previously known as Mero Mobile) are two of the GSM mobile carriers in Nepal. NTC, established in 1913 as government organization, started GSM mobile service back in 1999. Whereas Ncell, started mobile operation as private sector in 2004. Together they contribute over 40% mobile penetration (10.7 million users as of August 2011), with majority being Ncell users.

Despite the early adoption advantage, NTC has come under several complaints as being non-competitive to Ncell and poor services. Here is an attitude survey and the results from an attitude survey that I carried out using Fishbein Model.

Altogether 7 attributes were chosen to compare NTC vs Ncell and their services. A rating scale of 1 to 7 was chosen for the evaluation of desirability of the attribute (E) and a scale of -2 to +2 was used to calibrate the belief that the brand possessed the particular attribute (B). The resulting summation of beliefs and desirability gives the attitude towards a brand. The survey was carried out on a sample population of 30 users using an online questionnaire over Google Docs.

Based on this attitude survey using Fishbein Model, Ncell brand has a more favorable attitude among customers than NTC. Among the 7 attributes, Ncell has positive attributes towards making immediate calls, clear voice quality, quick SMS delivery, better internet (GPRS) facility and extra services. Whereas overall lower tariff showed negative attitude for Ncell and positive for NTC. Availability of recharge card was the only positive attribute for both the mobile carriers.

While the sample size is small to correctly make accurate attitude comparison, the result is consistent across the samples and can be modeled for a larger population as well. The higher positive attitude towards Ncell than NTC is visible through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well. Despite the negative attitude, the major reasons for preference of NTC over Ncell in many cases could be due to the already existing NTC subscribers and a more predictable cost compared to Ncell. Having said that, there have been recent marketing campaigns from NTC targeting its new and existing customers showing an attempt to build a more positive attitude. Meanwhile Ncell has been exploring various market segments from its inception to carve the bigger portion of the pie.

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