3.

Industry Analysis: Overview of Other Mobile Phone

Operators in Bangladesh:
3.1 Grameen Phone

Grameen Phone launched its service on the independence day of Bangladesh on

26th March 1997.
Table 1: GrameenPhone At a Glance

Events

Particulars

Obtaining License

November 28,1996

Commercial Launching

March 26,1997

Products

Post-Paid and Pre-Paid

GP Regular: Both way BTTB Connectivity + ISD
connection
GP National: With BTTB Incoming Connectivity

Post-Paid
GP- anytime 300

GP- anytime 450

Easy Pre-Paid
Easy Gold

Pre-Paid

DJuice
4

Sales & Information

centers

GP has sales and information centers in 6

districts.

Network Coverage

So far, GrameenPhone has covered 61 districts

along with all divisional H/Qs.

Technology

GP uses GSM (Global System for Mobile)

technology

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

26

Source: Newspaper Clippings and Website

Table 2: Customer Growth of GrameenPhone

Year

Customer Base

Growth Rate

1997

18,000

100%

1998

30,000

67%

1999

60,000

100%

2000

193,000

222%

2001

470,000

144%

2002

750,000

60%

2003

1,050,000

40 %

2005

3,699,000

252%

Remarks

Average Growth Rate:

123 %

Source: Newspaper Clippings

International Roaming
GrameenPhone became the first mobile phone operator in Bangladesh to offer its
subscribers International Roaming facilities in March 1999.
GP subscribers who have the International Roaming facility can use their mobile
phones in foreign countries where GrameenPhone has partner networks.
Subscribers of partner networks will also be able to use their mobile phones while
visiting Bangladesh.
Advertisement & Promotion
GP has managed to develop and design the A&P materials from in-house since GP
has its own DTP (Desktop Publishing) unit. However, at the early stage of service,
GP appointed Roop Adverting Agency as GPs adverting agency.
Branding

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

27

GP has a very affluent Branding team and already established an accountable

image in Bangladesh market as GrameenPhone in the hands of the people

3.2 Citycell:

CityCell was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Post and
Telecommunication on March 1990. In June 2005 45% share of City Cell has been
acquired by SingTel (Singapore Telecommunications Limited).
Table 3: CityCell At a Glance

Events

Particulars

Obtaining License

March 1990.

Commercial

August 1993.

Launching
3

Products

Post-Paid and Pre-Paid

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

28

Shabar Phone (Mobile 250)

Post-Paid
CityCell500
Amar Phone
CityCell Premium

Pre-Paid

Aalap 24, Aalap B, Aalap Call me

Sales and information

2 in Dhaka, 1 in Chittagong and 1 in Syhlet.

centers
5

Network Coverage

Citycell has covered 47 districts along with all

divisional H/Qs

Technology

CDMA

Source: Newspaper Clippings and Website

Table 4: Customer Growth of CityCell

Year

Customer Base

Growth Rate

1997

11,000

100%

1998

19,000

73%

1999

25,649

35%

2000

32,000

25%

2001

49,500

55%

2002

102,000

106%

2003

235,000

130%

2005

325,000

38%

May, 06

750,000

107%

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

29

Source: Newspaper Clippings

Benefits of CDMA
Superior voice quality and clarity by eliminating background noise.
Low power consumption; hence higher talk time, enhanced battery life.
Minimum health risks compared to other wireless technologies.
Increased security and privacy as none other then the called person can listen to your
conversation.
Higher data transfer rates.
Reduced interference on other electronic devices.

3.3 Bangla Link

Sheba was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Post and
Telecommunication on November 11,1996. Sheba launched its service on August
31, 1998. Later on Orascom took over the company, now it is called Banglalink.
Vision of Banglalink :
"Banglalink understands people's needs best and will create and deliver
appropriate communication services to improve people's life and make it easier"
Table 5: Banglalink At a Glance

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

30

Events
1

Particulars

Products
Pre-Paid M2M
Pre-Paid
Pre-Paid M2M Plus
Pre-Paid Standard
Post-Paid Standard (350 Tk. Monthly line rent + ISD)
Post-Paid
Post-Paid (350 Tk. Monthly line rent + PSTN-Incoming
+ outgoing)
Post-Paid Mobile to Mobile (150 Tk. Monthly line rent)

Sales and

2 in Dhaka, 1 in Chittagong and 1 in Sylhet

information centers
3

Network Coverage

40 districts along with all divisional H/Qs

Technology

GSM

Source: Newspaper Clippings and Website

3.4 Tele Talk

State-owned TeleTalk Bangladesh Limited launched its commercial operation on

31st March 2005 as the countrys fifth cellular operator and first ever in public
sector. The company managed by fixed phone operator Bangladesh Telegraph and
Telephone Board (BTTB) would spend about USD333 for its 250,000 GSM mobile
phones.

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

31

Table 6: Customer Base of TeleTalk

Year

Customer Base

March, 06

100,000

Source: Newspaper Clippings and Website

3.5 Market Share of Mobile Phone Companies in Bangladesh:

Presently, AKTEL has a total market share of 25% with GrameenPhone having
62%, CityCell 7%, and Banglalink 5%. The new public company, TeleTalk, has a
share of 1% within the span of 1 month since its inception.
Table 7: Market share of the mobile operators

Operators

Market Share

GrameenPhone

62%

AKTEL

25%

CityCell

5%

Banglalink

7%

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

32

TeleTalk
Source: Newspaper Clippings

1%+

Chart 3: Market Share of Mobile Companies in BD

5%

1%

62%

7%

Gram een Phone

AKT EL
Bangla Link
City Cell
T eleT alk

25%

Source: Newspaper Clippings

Table 8: Strategies and slogans of mobile operators

Mobile Operators
CityCell
AKTEL
Banglalink
GrameenPhone
TeleTalk

Strategy
Proven dependability
Modernity
Making mobile affordable
Communication for every body

Slogan
Because We Care
Clearly Ahead
You, First
In the hands of people

Source: Company Website

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

33

Table 9: A Comparative Study of the Mobile Phone Companies

Operators

AKTEL

GSM

Grameen
Phone

CityCell

Date of
launching
November97

April97

GSM

GSM
GSM

Equipment

Nos of
subscribers

70% Telekom

Suppliers
Alcatel,

Malaysia, 30%

Ericsson,

3,500,000

AK khan
61% Telenor,

Huawei

39% Grameen

Ericsson

6,000,000

Group, 45%

Motorola

750,000

SingTel
100% Orascom

Siemens,

1,000,000

Ownership

Telecom
55% Pacific
August93

CDMA

Banglalink
TeleTalk

Technology

September98
March 2005

Telecom Limited
100% BTTB

Huawei
Alcatel,
Siemens

100,000

Source: Company Website

3.6 Barriers to Entry:

Analysis on the overall telecommunication industry in Bangladesh shows a high barrier to
entry in the industry.
The barrier is high becauseThe entry involves a substantial capital requirement/initial investment (such as setting
up network towers, tower maintenance cost, government tax, administrative cost, HR
cost, promotional cost etc.)
Because of the high fixed cost involved in the operation, it is hard to achieve the desired
level of Economies of Scale.
Switching cost in this industry is very high and involves a large capital loss.
Bangladesh is a too risky market to penetrate successfully (high political and economical
risks, uncertain weather conditions etc.).
The industry faces high government restrictions due to their complicated policies such as
the enforcement of recent VAT policy of TK.900 on each SIM card.

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

34

The brand identity/image of five present operators (GP, AKTEL, CityCell, Banglalink,
TeleTalk) is highly strong in the market, which will make it difficult for the new entrants
to make an individual identity.
Due to the absence of proper patent rules on technology, the practice of imitation is high
and there is no protection on intelligence flow from companies to companies.
The only factor making it easy for the new entrants is the access to distribution channels
(dealers, distributors), which is high.

3.7 Rivalry among Existing Firms:

Analysis on the overall telecommunication industry in Bangladesh shows a high level of
rivalry among existing firms due to the following reasons:
Telecommunication industry is a fast growing industry in Bangladesh. Therefore, the
level of competition is high since the companies have to cope up with the fast changing
needs of customers by offering new services on a regular basis.
The practice of aggressive marketing, which has created a promotional battle among the
companies, has intensified the rivalry.
Telecommunication is an industry with high fixed costs. This has enhanced the
competition among the operators, as the firms are forced to cut price to enable them to
operate at capacity.
Differentiation, both real and perceived, among competing offerings is low, which
further has boosted the rivalry in the industry.
Difficulty of exit from the industry has increased the level of competition.
However, comparing to the market size of mobile phone users in Bangladesh (the
potential market size is 15 million; source: newspaper), the number of competitors in the
industry is low. There are only 4 private and 1 public companies operating in the
industry. Among these companies, only 4 offer GSM technology and 1 offers CDMA
technology. Low number of competitors has narrowed the competition to some extent.

Potential of SME market for the mobile operators in Bangladesh

35