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profitability in the second quarter of 2009 , after a gap of two
years, putting its financial position second to the largest operator,
Grameenphone. The company's profit after tax and minority interest
(PATAMI) was Tk 618 million at the end of June 2009 , which was a
deficiency of Tk 214 million in June 2008 , according to the
financial report of Axiata, the Malaysia-based controlling company
of AKTEL. In the six operator mobile market, Grameenphone (GP), which
is controlled by Norway-based Telenor, was the only profitable
operator till March 2009. GP's operating profit stood at Tk 569.63
crore at the end of June 2009. Cost management and lowering
subscriber acquisition costs mainly helped AKTEL return to breakeven.
Initially, the company made profits until June 2007 , after which it
faced massive financial losses for two years because it had to
compensate the telecom regulator with Tk 145 crore for involvement in
illegal call termination through VoIP (voice over internet protocol)
technology. AKTEL's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes and
depreciation) improved by 44 percent to Tk 3 ,539 million in June
2009 , up from Tk 2 ,459 million a year ago. "The EBITDA improved
significantly mainly from lower subscriber acquisition and related
costs, and reduced interconnect tariff for calls between operators
by the telecom regulator," says the Axiata report. Mobile phone
operators in Bangladesh used to pay Tk 800 as connection taxes on
behalf of new customers. However, from July last year, some
operators, including AKTEL, decided not to bear the tax anymore to
minimise losses. The telecom regulator at the end of 2008 also cut
interconnection tariff between mobile to landline or mobile-to-mobile
from Tk 0.40 to Tk 0.25. Axiata Group Berhad (formerly known as TM
International) is controlling interests in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia with significant strategic stakes in
India and Singapore. Presently, Axiata controls 70 percent shares of
AKTEL, while the Japanese NTT DoCoMo is controlling the remaining 30
percent.
