Bangladesh had an estimated 86.555mn mobile subscribers at the end of September 2011, which would represent a net addition of 4.728mn from the previous quarter. However, this figure is based on estimated figures for all of the country’s operators except Grameenphone, which announced its September 2011 results.
Grameenphone’s subscriber base increased to 35.245mn from 33.824mn in June 2011, while its blended ARPU fell to BDT257 from BDT270 over the same period. The country is expected to have around 158.940mn subscribers in the country at the end of 2016, with a penetration rate of 99.2%.
The country’s fixed-line industry is unlikely to see much of a transformation, but new data from the ITU indicates that this will not be the case for the internet and broadband sectors. By the end of 2016, the country is forecast to have 9.718mn internet users and 4.729 broadband (fixed and mobile) subscribers.
In the quarter ended September 2011, the Bangladeshi government announced plans to auction 3G licences in September 2012 and state-owned Teletalk has been granted permission to trial the technology. The dust surrounding the 2G licence renewal fees for Bangladesh's four mobile operators was seemingly settled in September 2011 after a year of negotiations with the regulator.
However, the BTRC contacted the companies in October wanting further fees for additional spectrum that was purchased in 2008. The Bangladeshi telecoms industry has been a significant revenue contributor to the government's coffers through initiatives such as revenue-sharing and the social obligation fund. However, recent decisions by the government suggest it is trying to squeeze more out of the operators, especially considering that many firms are backed by major international telecoms firms.
ARPU levels remain low as a result of a continued lack of more lucrative 3G services. However, following Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's historic visit to Bangladesh, bilateral relations between Dhaka and New Delhi are set to enter into a higher growth trajectory. Most importantly, Bangladesh appears to be reaping the fruits of this improving relationship, as various deals boost to the country’s business environment. Dhaka may also benefit from increased attention from Beijing, should Indo-Bangla relations continue to improve.
