After splashing $300 million to buy Warid Telecom in
Bangladesh in early 2010, Airtel Bangladesh’s subscriber base grew by 2.29
million in almost two years.
Bharti Airtel added 1.15 million new subscribers in India in
August 2011 alone to add to Bharti Airtel’s market share of around 19 percent
in the country.
In Bangladesh, Airtel’s subscriber base grew from 3.01
million in January 2010 to 5.29 million in September 2011, registering a growth
of 75 percent. Airtel announced the acquisition of Warid Telecom in January
2010.
The mobile industry grew 50 percent in Bangladesh with
mobile users increasing from 53.83 million in January 2010 to 80.91 million in
September 2011.
The marketing strategies adopted by Airtel in India and
Africa did not work well in Bangladesh, a strong hold for Telenor’s Grameenphone.
On the occasion of the Airtel brand launch, Chris Tobit,
CEO-Airtel Bangladesh said, We know the people of Bangladesh are very
passionate about their identity, their culture and their language. The airtel
brand will represent these values, while retaining the youthfulness and dynamism
of the global brand so that our customers here can enjoy the same brand
experienced across continents. We have already begun work to take our mobile
network deeper into the rural areas and deliver world-class and affordable
mobile services.”
Despite marketing strategies and huge investments, the
position of Airtel did not change from 4. Grameenphone continues
to hold the top position, while Orascom and Robi Axiata are in number two and
three positions, respectively.
Grameenphone increased its mobile user base to 35.245
million in September 2011 from 23.48 million in January 2010. Orascom mobile
users grew to 22.139 million from 14.07 million, while Robi Axiata added around
5 million users to touch 15.273 million in less than two years.
However, there is a silver lining for Airtel Bangladesh.
Airtel’s market share improved by 1 percent to 6.54 percent. Grameenphone’s
market share is almost steady at 43.5 percent, while Orascom’s and Robi Axiata’s
market share declined less than 1 percent.
Airtel Bangladesh in continuing its expansion plans.
Recently, Airtel Bangladesh added 160 new towns to its
network spread, which penetrates to 2100 plus towns. With 2220 BTS sites
currently present in Bangladesh, Airtel plans to extend its coverage to reach
72 percent of the country’s population by December 2011. With a target of
setting up 600 additional service centers in Bangladesh by March 2012
timeframe, Airtel plans to strengthen the presence of its support services.
During the acquisition of Warid Telecom, telecom industry
analysts in India were skeptical about their investment plans.
Airtel Bangladesh signed an agreement with Dutch Bangla
Bank to launch m-commerceservices to a larger segment of population. Airtel
subscribers can conduct their financial transactions by using their
mobile device through an affordable process. This partnership isaimed
at making the concept of inclusive banking a reality for customers in
Bangladesh.
Competition is continuing its aggressive investment plans. Grameenphone
strengthened its retail channel and distribution infrastructure with more than
264,000 point of sales to reach rural areas.
Grameenphone invested BDT 551 crore during the first six
months of 2011 for network modernization and efficiency enhancement. With this,
GP’s cumulative investment since inception now stands at BDT 16,348 crore.
Grameenphone reported BDT 4,340 crore revenue for the first
half of 2011, showing a 21 percent increase from the first half of 2010. The
growth in revenue was mainly in voice revenues due to subscription growth and
revenues from sale of GP branded handsets.
Hope Airtel Bangladesh can improve further to keep up the
reputation of Airtel in other markets.
By Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
