The Bangladesh telecom industry’s subscription base reached 40.34 Million in April 2008 due to falling call rates, cheaper handsets and rising disposable income.
As per the data released by Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the number of mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh reached 40.34 Million with addition of 1.41 Million new subscribers in April 2008 by six mobile operators, as reported by REUTERS.
The telecom regulator also disclosed that addition of new subscribers raised the mobile penetration more than 25% of the country’s population. Separately, Bangladesh’s leading mobile operator, Grameenphone, has 18.6 Million customers, Banglalink has 8.64 Million, AKTEL has 7.57 Million and Warid has 2.93 Million subscribers. On the other side, Citycell, Bangladesh oldest mobile operator, has added 1.6 Million subscribers.
The growth in mobile subscribers in Bangladesh during April 2008 was largely due to declining call rates, falling prices of handsets and rising competition among operators. Consequently, the mobile phones become cheaper and affordable for people in the country.
Furthermore, the disposable income of people in Bangladesh is increasing, and therefore the consumer spending is also rising. Increased disposable income is improving the quality of life in Bangladesh. People are showing interest in new technologies like Internet service on mobile phone. Besides, mobile companies are also adding new technologies in their services as a result more and more customers are buying mobile phones.
Other important factors that are boosting growth in the Bangladesh telecom industry include economic growth and enhanced productivity in the country.
However, the Bangladesh telecommunication industry is rapidly growing but it is still far behind in comparison to telecommunication industries of some South Asian neighbors. Unfavorable growth conditions due to weak marketing strategies in rural areas and poor infrastructure are hampering the growth of mobile operators in the country. In addition, rising number of subscribers has negatively affected the telecom industry due to network congestion and increased number of failed calls.
According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The Bangladesh telecom industry is rapidly growing and mobile operators are focusing on rural areas as they are offering vast growth opportunities. Also, the mobile operators need to provide better service by improving the network through proper bandwidth.”
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Srilankan ICT Market Analysis
China Telecom Analysis (2008-2012)
Indian Telecom Analysis (2008-2012)
