Banglalink eyes 1 million subscribers by year-end

Wed Jun 08, 2005 1:55 am            

Mobile phone operator Banglalink yesterday said its subscriber-base will reach one million by the end of this year.

"Less than four months on, Banglalink's subscriber base has skyrocketed to over 400,000 and is still growing," Banglalink Chief Executive Officer Lars P Reichelt told reporters at a press briefing in Dhaka yesterday.


"Our growth is over 100 percent month-on-month," he said explaining the remarkable success in the first four months of operations.

Egypt's Orascom, which launched Banglalink in February after acquiring the country's tiny mobile phone operator Sheba Telecom, had a plan to invest $180 million in 2005 to increase its network. It also plans to extend network to all 61 administrative districts by the year-end. Presently, 27 districts are under its network.

Reichelt's comment came a day after rival Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (PBTL) announced a skyrocketing plan to boost the subscriber base of its mobile phone brand CityCell. PBTL's new investor, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, yesterday expressed a plan to spend further $150 million for its subscriber base.


Banglalink has doubled its talk time for Tk 300 prepaid card to 110 minutes from 55 minutes previously for a limited period. Its effective per minute call charge is Tk 2.37 also for a limited period.


Banglalink's Tk 300 prepaid scratch card will offer 55 minutes talk time to all mobile phone networks and 55 free minutes to Banglalink numbers anytime of the day, he said.


Banglalink has leveraged its international linkages and introduced international SMS services covering 181 countries. "Today, only one operator extends SMS services to countries such as Sierra Leone, Kuwait and Liberia where Bangladeshi UN Peacekeepers are stationed," he said.


Banglalink will introduce international roaming in some 108 countries of the world, the Banglalink CEO said.


Bangladesh, with a population of 140 million, has over five million mobile phone users and five mobile operators.


Analysts said Orascom had raised competition in the country's fast-growing mobile phone market, where number of subscribers has more than doubled from a year earlier, forcing rival operators to reduce tariff charges.


The country's largest mobile operator GrameenPhone Ltd has a market share of about 62 percent. Telekom Malaysia International Bangladesh (AKTEL) has a 26 percent market share, while PBTL has 6.7 percent and state-owned Teletalk Bangladesh Limited, launched in late March, has about 40,000 subscribers.

Sun Jun 25, 2006 3:58 pm