Analysis of telecom service quality factors with analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy extent analysis: a case of public sector unit

The introduction of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Indian telecom sector has resulted in increased competition among the telecom service providers. Accordingly, the service providers have changed their attention from profit earning to customer satisfaction. Instead of getting new customers, the service providers have become interested in retaining their existing customers. They have realised that satisfied customers improved an organisation's image in the market. Thus, the main research objective of the study is to discuss the service quality of a public sector unit (PSU) having important service attributes. This study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the important telecom dimensions were identified. In the second stage, these attributes were prioritised using experts' choice and fuzzy extent analysis. In the third stage, the model was tested on the PSU customers using factor analysis and regression. The results showed that grievance handling was given the highest priority compared to the other quality attributes. This research is useful for telecom service providers, especially those who focused on service quality. To the best of our knowledge, the quality of mobile, wireline and broadband services has been rarely investigated using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy extent analysis.