More Indian mobile company looks in Bangladeshi market

Buoyed by India's largest mobile phone operator Bharti Airtel's acquisition of 70 percent stake in Warid Telecom, more Indian companies are eyeing the growing Bangladesh market, telecom industry officials here said. What has enthused Indian telecom operators is that the market in Bangladesh, with one of the lowest tele-densities in the world (just 32 percent), has a lot of potential to grow, they said. Arpita Agarwal, associate director (telecom) for PricewaterhouseCoopers, said Airtel could quickly bridge the gap between Warid and Grameenphone, which is the leader in Bangladesh with a market share of over 45 percent. Airtel can achieve a lot considering its experience and the fact that the market dynamics in Bangladesh is similar to India in terms of low market penetration with the pre-paid segment accounting for 98 percent of the market and low average revenue per user, she said. Airtel Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kohli said Bangladesh with just 32 percent mobile phone penetration is among the largest markets globally in terms of growth potential. Telecom analysts say the number of cellphone users in Bangladesh is projected to double to 100 million by the year 2013. Kohli said Airtel brand would be well received in Bangladesh especially since the company's brand ambassadors are Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and music maestro AR Rahman who are very popular in that country. Asked how Bharti Airtel proposed to compete with Grameenphone, Kohli said the business plan and targets would be finalised in the next four to six weeks. He said Airtel plans to introduce new services and innovations in Bangladesh market.