Abstract
The study was carried out to determine the effect of telecommunication service on service delivery and customer satisfaction. To carry out this research work survey research design employing questionnaire was used as the instrument of data collection. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentage and Chisquare statistics. The result review that MTN does not provide the needed service. That their service is characterized with network fluctuations, high calls charges and unnecessary SMS. It was recommended that MTN and other Telecommunications companies should provide the needed service to achieve customer satisfaction in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
It is no longer news that competition is the bedrock of innovation, with the increasing competition in the market, customer loyalty has become a decisive factor in long-term business profits. At its high, customer loyalty connotes the high entry barriers for the competitor to enter the market, and it significantly contributes to reduction in marketing costs. Attracting new customers requires a company to invest quite much time and money and this process always span a long period of time associated with uncertainties and risks. Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication is the fastest growing market in Africa. Nigeria, a developing country in 1992 introduced its first mobile phone services, through the joint venture between NITEL and DSL of Canada to form Mobile Telecommunications Service (MTS). Nigerian telecommunication came into mainstream in 2001 when the deregulation of the subsector of the economy gave way to private involvement. The telecommunication system was opened up with the issuance of Global System for Mobile (GSM) unified license in 2001. Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) was the only operator in the market before 2001 with subscribers of about 500,000 from a population of 140million. (NCC 2005). The regulatory body Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), modernized and expanded the mobile telecommunication network and services by granting GSM license to three (3) service providers MTN Nigeria, ECONET Wireless (now AIRTEL), and the first national carrier, NITEL (initially MTS, privatized to form MTEL). In 2002, the second national carrier, GLOBACOM was also granted license to commence operations. In 2007, ETISALAT acquired the unified access license from the federal government Nigeria. Since the launch of GSM, the number of subscribers in Nigeria has greatly increased. It was reported by Ndukwe in 2005 that between 1998 and 2000, the number of mobile lines was 35,000 but grew to over 11million as of March 2005, with a growth rate of more than a million lines annually since 2002. Currently MTN has about 57,224,316 subscribers in Nigeria with a growth rate of 81%. (NCC 2013). The number of loyal customers as a sign of market share is more meaningful and significant than the total number of customers. More loyal customers translate to high profits. Loyal customers will continue to purchase or receive the product or service from the same enterprises and they will be willing to pay higher prices for the quality products and first-class services, thereby increasing sales revenue. From the afore mentioned, the focus of many enterprise managers at this point is on marketing management aspects to improve customer loyalty in order to gain the competitive advantage in the face of fierce competition. The importance of customer loyalty has been identified by many researchers and academicians in different commercial enterprises in years past (Ahn, 2006; Gerpott el al, 2001; Lee 2001). This importance in no doubt does not exclude the telecommunication industry and by extension the Nigerian telecoms industry.
Nowadays, as the mobile telecommunication market is being saturated, the growth rate won't be higher than it used to be some times ago. The situation makes mobile telecommunication companies not only to promote their service quality, but also change their marketing core strategy from expansion to holding their existing customers by enhancing and optimizing the customers’ loyalty. (Long-Yi Lin & Jen-Chun, 2004). Telecommunication industry is a very typical industry, customer's importance to enterprises, and how to attract, develop and maintain customers has become more and more important in the sharp internationalized mobile telecommunication competitions. The issue of how to improve customer loyalty is a very important for mobile communication operators. Therefore, customer loyalty is playing a significant role in the telecommunication market competition because it has become a critical variable in the fight for survival among telecom operators.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Customer satisfaction makes the customers loyal to one telecommunication service provider. Previous researchers have found that satisfaction of the customers can help the brands to build long and profitable relationships with their customers (Eshghi et al., 2007). Though it is costly to generate satisfied and loyal customers but that would prove profitable in a long run for a firm (Anderson et al., 2004). Therefore a firm should concentrate on the improvement of service quality and charge appropriate fair price in order to satisfy their customers which would ultimately help the firm to retain its customers (Gustafsson et al., 2005). It is a common phenomenon that the services a network offers and the price it charges actually determine the level of satisfaction among its customers, than any other measure (Turel et al. 2006). Customer’s involvement is also important as when buyer consider the product important and invests time to seek information then it ultimately enhances the satisfaction level (Russell-Bennett et al., 2007). Any business is likely to lose market share, customers and investors if it fails to satisfy customers as effectively and efficiently as its competitors is doing (Anderson et al., 2004). It in view of this that the study become pertinent
- OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The study has one main objective which is sub-divided into general specific objective and specific objective: the general objective is to examine the effect of telecommunication services on customer satisfaction in Nigeria. The specific objectives area
- To examines the effects of telecommunication service on customer satisfaction in Nigeria
- To examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and telecommunication service in Nigeria
- To explore the impact of telecommunication service on the growth of Nigeria communication sector
- To proffer suggested solution to the identified problem
- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study
H0: there is no significant relationship between relationship between customer satisfaction and telecommunication service in Nigeria
H1: there is a significant relationship between relationship between customer satisfaction and telecommunication service in Nigeria
H0: Telecommunication service does not have any effect on customer satisfaction in Nigeria
H2: Telecommunication service does have an effect on customer satisfaction in Nigeria.
