Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan?
By Babar Bhatti | February 9, 2010 | No Comments
Have you noticed the common elements between the telecom industry of Pakistan and Bangladesh? Three of the top 4 telecom companies in Bangladesh are also doing business in Pakistan. Telenor is present in all of sub-continent. Regulatory authorities in Bangladesh (BRTC) and Pakistan (PTA) have also worked together and shared best practices. Here’s a short review of the mobile telecom companies in Bangladesh.
According to BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission), the total number of Mobile Phone Active Subscribers has reached 52.43 million at the end of December 2009. Note how Mobilink (13.87 million) is trailing behind Telenor / Grameen which has 23.26 million – the opposite of their situation in Pakistan. Warid (2.99 million) is at number 3 both in Bangladesh and in Pakistan – however in Bangladesh, Warid has sold its majority stake. In Pakistan, Warid is still in “talks”.
Information – about the companies:
Launched in 1997, Grameenphone was the first Telenor venture in the Asian telecom market.
Today, Grameenphone is the largest mobile provider in Bangladesh, serving more than 21 million subscribers; an increase of 53 per cent in the subscriber base in 2007. Telenor and its partners have boosted network capacity and extended coverage to new and often remote areas, connecting millions of previously unconnected people. Telenor holds 62 per cent of Grameenphone. Grameenphone started trading its shares on the stock exchanges in Dhaka and Chittagong on November 16, 2009. The headquarter is in Dhaka.
Telenor’s venture in Bangladesh wasn’t without disputes. A statement on Telenor website says.
In the conflict regarding the ownership of Grameenphone, Telenor disagrees with Muhammad Yunus that we have an agreement to sell our stake in the company to him. We would like to emphasize that the shareholder agreement clearly states that any disagreements should be resolved through the Swedish courts.
Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5,700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 per cent of Bangladesh’s population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network.
Grameenphone currently holds both a GSM 900 and a GSM 1800 licence. The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled.
- Bangla Link - (Orascom – Mobilink in Pakistan)
When banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, the scenario changed overnight with mobile telephony becoming an extremely useful and affordable communication tool for people across all segments.
Within one year of operation, banglalink became the fastest growing mobile operator of the country with a growth rate of 257%. This milestone was achieved with innovative and attractive products and services targeting the different market segments; aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care; and effective communication that emotionally connected customers with banglalink.
Banglalink is today the 2nd largest mobile operator in the country and we have recently celebrated with 1 crore customers. This has been achieved in just three and a half years.
Warid has recently sold a 51 per cent stake in its two largest African networks to India’s Essar, and 70 per cent of its Bangladeshi network to Bharti Airtel.
In Bangladesh, Warid Telecom commenced its operations under a landmark MOU agreed upon by the Dhabi Group and the Government of Bangladesh worth USD 1 billion, out of which USD 750 million was exclusively committed for investment in the telecommunication sector of the country. Succeeding the MOU signing, the BTRC license for telecom service provision was issued to Warid Telecom, followed by the signing of interconnectivity agreement with all the existing telecom companies of Bangladesh.
In May 10th, 2007, Warid Telecom launched its commercial operations in Bangladesh with a network encompassing 26 districts. By November 2007, the network had been expanded to cover 61 districts and being used by 2 million customers.
The subscriber base of over 2 million users in our first year of operation alone serves as a testament to Warid telecom’s customer-driven business mandate. These achievements have only been possible due to Warid’s uncompromising commitment to provide maximum network coverage and clear connectivity at the most affordable price.
Tags: airtel > bangla link > Bangladesh > grameen > Telenor > Warid
Comments
No Responses to “Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan?”
Leave a Reply
Subscribe via Email
About TelecomPK
TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry. More here.
Online Directory
February 9th, 2010 @ 9:29 am
[...] the original post:Â Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan … Categories: Telecom Tags: bangladesh, doing-business, elements-between, [...]
February 9th, 2010 @ 12:00 pm
[...] doing business in Pakistan. Telenor is present in all of … Go here to see the original: Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan … Posted in Bangladesh, Common | Tags: are-also, between-the-telecom, Common, [...]
February 9th, 2010 @ 4:24 pm
Augere is also working in both countries by the product name of QUBEE as a WIMAX operator.
February 9th, 2010 @ 5:39 pm
[...] this article: Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan … Share and [...]
February 10th, 2010 @ 4:45 am
hmm good Warid & telenor are in both country
February 14th, 2010 @ 3:40 pm
[...] the original: Mobile Telecom Industry of Bangladesh. What's Common with Pakistan … Share and [...]