Wireless Federation

Grameenphone selects Huawei to deploy powered BTSs in Bangladesh:

Huawei, a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced that it has been selected by Grameenphone (GP), a subsidiary of Telenor, to deploy Bangladesh’ s first solar powered base transceiver stations (BTS).

Huawei will install its fourth-generation base stations, using a solar and diesel generator hybrid power solution to provide mobile connectivity in rural areas. The base stations will primarily be powered by harnessing solar energy without having to be linked to an electricity grid. The diesel generator will be used as a backup.

Bangladesh home to 44.6Mn mobile subscribers by 2008 end:

According to Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Bangladesh finished 2008 with a mobile subscriber base of 44.6 million by adding 10.27 million subscribers in the year, at a growth rate of 30% compared to the 62% growth recorded in 2007. According to statistics revealed, Grameenphone lead the market by adding 4.51 million in 2008, taking its total subscriber base to 20.99 million at 2008 end, followed by Banglalink which added 3.25 million subscribers and AKTEL adding 1.8 million to reach a subscriber base of 10.33 million and 8.20 million, respectively.
The new entrant to the market, Warid Telecom ended 2008 with a subscriber base of 2.33 million a step further of CityCell and Teletalk, who stood at a subscriber base of 1.81 million and 980,000 respectively.


GrameenPhone adds 106,000 new GSM subscribers in Q2'09(Bangladesh):

Bangladeshi mobile operator GrameenPhone (GP) said it added 106,000 net new GSM subscribers during the second quarter of 2009, resulting in a slight decline in market share, but still accounting for at least 45% of all users in the country; according to a report, GP had a 45.5% share of subscribers at end March 2009. GP ended June with a subscriber base of 21.16 million, where as according to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, smaller rival Banglalink, owned by Egypt’s Orascom, added almost double GP’s number of net new users in 2Q (or 204,000), to take its total to 11.04 million. GP, 62%-owned by Telenor, posted a 10% year on-year rise in revenues in the three months ended 30 June 2009 to USD236 million, which it attributed to the increase in its customer base, higher average prices (the company has recently removed handset subsidies) and increased interconnectivity revenues due to the introduction an international gateway in the fourth quarter of 2008, which were partly offset by reduced domestic interconnection fees.CEO Oddvar Hesjedal said, ‘The increasing revenue growth trend I think accurately demonstrates that the management is willing to make the right changes at the right time to bolster the company during the lull in the economy.In light of the current market conditions growth is definitely a positive indicator of the business prospects of GrameenPhone. Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped by 1% year-on-year, attributed to lower usage and reduced interconnection fees.


Grameenphone's ARPU falls by 7% in 2008(Bangladesh):

GrameenPhone, cuntry’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has posted a net profits of $47.4 million in 2008, rising from $1.8million in 2007. The Bangladeshi incumbent added nearly 4.5million subscribers in 2008 compared to 6 million in 2007 and ended the year with 20.99 million GSM subscribers. The lowered net additions and lowered handset subsidy has led to a rise in net income of the operator. The operator’s annual revenues rose by 13% though the monthly ARPU dropped by 7% since last year.


GrameenPhone delays IPO olans led by economic crunch (Bangladesh):

GrameenPhone, Bangladesh, delays its IPO plans led by economic breakdown globally. Anders Jensen, CEO GrameenPhone, says that the telco has postponed the pre-IPO process due to hesitancy among international investors, and now expects the shares to be floated in February 2009. The operator had earlier sought to raise $300Mn half through a private placement and half via a subsequent domestic IPO. But now the Bangladeshi operator hplans to raise $50Mn in the pre IPO sale, subjected to an rise if demand exceeds expectations, and $75Mn in an IPO on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.