Warid to spend $250m on network expansion
Warid Telecom, the fourth largest mobile phone operator, plans to invest $250 million in network expansion in one year, aiming to grab major portion of the potential market share in years to come.
The company, which launched its commercial operation one year ago, outnumbered Citycell and state run TeleTalk in terms of customer acquisition and intends to grow bigger on a strong network base.
"We haven't reached the optimum level in terms of subscriber acquisition," said Muneer Farooqui, chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, adding, "Our strategy is to go ahead with best quality network. So, we have no intention to have a huge number of subscribers if we fail to provide them best services only."
At a press conference to mark the completion of the first year of the UAE-based Warid Telecom in Bangladesh Farooqui urged the government to reduce existing Tk800 tax per SIM (subscriber identification module) card. "This tax is tremendously affecting our business," he said.
Warid received license from the telecoms regulator by paying $50million in December 2005.
Warid CEO said his company holds over 7 percent market shares and the company's per month ARPU (average revenue per user) is now $2 (Tk140).
An aggressive marketing model was in place in the mobile phone market even before Warid's entrance, as sixth mobile operator, in Bangladesh in May 2007.
Warid had to face stiff competition to begin with as its rivals drastically reduced call tariff. Although the company failed to make an impression in the market in first few months, later on it started to get significant number of customers after offering benefits through different packages.
The operators, with around 40million urban customer, are now looking to add customers from rural areas. The industry insiders believe that there is big untouched market in the rural areas.
Warid, the subsidiary of Abu Dhabi group, will basically go for enhancing its network to grab the rural market. According to the company sources, with its new investment plan, the company's investment will reach $750million.
Starting with network coverage in 28 districts, Warid's network now covers 61 districts. Run by next generation network (NGN), the fifth GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) based mobile operators so far installed 1,400 base station across the country.
According to the latest figures released by the BTRC, as on March 2008 the total number of mobile phone subscribers reached 38.93 million.
Grameenphone is the market leader in mobile telecommunication sector with around 17.8 million subscribers, while Orascom Telecom Bangladesh, which operates Banglalink, is the second leader with around 8.3 million subscribers.
Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh, which operates AKTEL, and Warid Telecom International are the third and fourth market players with around 7.4 million and around 2.7 million subscribers respectively.
Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd, which operates Citycell, and the state-run Teletalk Bangladesh are the other two operators.
Comments