Telecommunication industry in Bangladesh:

The liberalization of Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector began with small steps in 1989
with the issuance of a license to a private operator for the provision of inter alia cellular mobile
services to compete with the previous monopoly provider of telecommunications services the
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB). Significant changes in the number of fixed
and mobile services deployed in Bangladesh occurred in the late 1990s and the number of
services in operation has subsequently grown exponentially in the past five years.
The incentives both from government and public sectors have helped to grow this sector. It is
now one of the biggest sector of Bangladesh. As a populous country,it’s huge market has
attracted many foreign investors to invest in this sector.

Introduction: In the telecom industry, where the product life cycle is extremely short.Parcus is
a facilitator in the product development process, so it is very important that we can work
constructively and adaptively with our customers. We see our relationship with our customers
as a partnership in the true sense of the word: your success is our success.
OVERVIEW OF  MOBILE  TELECOM MARKET IN  BANGLADESH:
Currently there are 6 mobile operators in Bangladesh. They are namely-

 Grameenphone – Joint venture ownership 62%Telenor and 38%Grameen Telecom.

 Banglalink – Joint venture with Orascom Telecom Co. originated from Egypt.

 Robi – Joint venture between Telecom Malaysia Berhad TM and A. K. Khan& company
limited

 Waried Telecom – An investment of Dubai and Abu Dhabi Group UAE.

 TeleTalk – Public limited company but 100% share have been owned by the government
of Bangladesh.

 Citycell – Joint venture with SingTel Asia pacific investment Pvt. limited.

Over the last two to three years, the number of mobile subscribers in Bangladesh has been
more than or close to more than doubling on an annual basis. By end-2007, the subscriber base
had reached 34 million and was continuing to grow at an annual rate of around 60%.

Analysis:
From the brief overview of Bangladesh telecommunications industry, it is comprehendible that
there is a vast network of users in the country. Additionally, the genesis and operation of
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) implies that the industry is not
only booming but also an intricate one.

The stages of the product life cycle are:

  Introduction
 Growth
 Maturity
 Decline

Introduction: When the product is brought into the market. In this stage, there's heavy
marketing activity, product promotion and the product is put into limited outlets in a few
channels for distribution. Sales take off slowly in this stage. The need is to create awareness,
not profits. 

Growth: In this stage, sales take off, the market knows about the product; other companies
are attracted, profits begin to come in and market shares stabilize. 

Maturity: Where sales grow at slowing rates and finally stabilize. In this stage, products get
differentiated, price wars and sales promotion become common and a few weaker players exit. 

Decline: Here, sales drop, as consumers may have changed, the product is no longer relevant
or useful. Price wars continue, several products are withdrawn and cost control becomes the
way out for most products in this stage. 

PLC management makes these three assumptions:

 1. Products have a limited life and, thus, every product has a life cycle.
2. Product sales pass through distinct stages, each of which poses different
challenges, problems and opportunities to its parent company.
3. Products will have different marketing, financing, manufacturing,
purchasing and human resource requirements at the various stages of its
life cycle.
The product life cycle begins with the introduction stage (see ). Just because a
product successfully completes the launch stage and starts its life cycle, the
company cannot take its success for granted.

Product Development and Product Life Cycle: The Product Life Cycle follows
directly after new product development.
A company must succeed at both developing new products and managing them in
the face of changing tastes, technologies and competition. A good product
manager should find new products to replace those that are in the declining stage
of their life cycles; learning how to manage products optimally as they move from
one stage to the next.

GrameenPhone:
Grameenphone is a GSM (global system of mobile communication)-based cellular operator in
Bangladesh. It has started operations on March 26, 1997. It is partly owned by Telenor (62%)
and Grameen Telecom (38%). Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone company in
Bangladesh with 23.04 million customers as of october, 2008.GP introduced a new product, that
is to say a new “experience”.  
Only last month, it has announced the launch of 4G network service in parts of Dhaka and
Chittagong city as part of the nationwide rollout of the service. To inform its customers about
its product, GP delved into heavy marketing. From social media to billboards, GP planted
images of a footballer, who sprints from one location to another, with a vibrant music playing in
the background. GP ends its advertisement by asking a rhetoric question to its customers - “Are
you 4G ready?”

By showing a fast running footballer, GP implied that its new product will have a high speed and
quality data network. In this initial stage of product life cycle, as there is no profit, GP
endeavors to make its product as noticeable as possible to its customers.
Grameenphone focuses its CSR on the field of followings:
It contributes its responsibilities toward countries education, empowerment & health
sector.
Beautification of the city towns.
It is the official sponsor of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Maturity  Stage of Gameenphone:

During the maturity stage, sales will peak as the product reaches market saturation, and
competition will grow increasingly fierce. When the product is brought into the market.
In this stage, there's heavy marketing activity, product promotion and the product is put
into limited outlets in a few channels for distribution. Sales take off slowly in this stage.
The need is to create awareness, not profits.

During this stage, sales growth has started to slow down, and the product has already reached
widespread acceptance in the market, in relative terms. Ultimately, during this stage, sales will
peak. The company will want to prolong this phase so as to avoid decline, and this desire leads
to new innovation and features in order to continue to compete with the competition which, by
now, has become very established, advanced and fierce. Competitors ‘ products will begin to
cut deeply into the company’s market position and market share. However, despite this, sales
continue to grow in the early part of the maturity phase. But, these sales will peak and
ultimately decline, as the graph shows

Banglalink:
banglalink, is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh. As of August, 2008,
banglalink has a subscriber base of more than 10 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Orascom Telecom. banglalink had 1.03 million connections until December, 2005. The number
of banglalink users increased by more than 253 per cent and stood at 3.64 million at the end of
2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year. In August, 2006,
banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming calls from BTTB for both
postpaid and prepaid connections. banglalink provides its powerful network by 5500(approx)
BTS (Base Tower Stations) is covering 486 Thanas reasonably and 61 districts, covering a total
population of around 90% till mid of 2008.

The executive also emphasized banglalink – as best mobile company of the country. And are
capable to be a market leader within short period of time. According to him team sprite,
superior-subordinate relationship, and working environment is excellent. The company is ready
to take any challenges and have the capability to overcome it. They are strategically located at

key points around the country. Kallol Group a local distribution company had partnered with
banglalink to operate at least forty banglalink points through out the country.
Banglalink focuses its CSR on the field of followings:
 1. Tradition & culture of Bengal.
2. Beautification of the city towns.
3. It is the official sponsor of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation.
4. It has under taken the voting campaign to vote for Cox-bazaar and sunder-boon and
cleaning Cox-bazaar.
5. It has provided Trolley for the passengers of ZiaInternationalAirport.

Maturity  Stage of Banglalink:

 Where sales grow at slowing rates and finally stabilize. In this stage, products get
differentiated, price wars and sales promotion become common and a few weaker
players exit.

Maturity Stage: The maturity stage of the product life cycle shows that sales will
eventually peak and then slow down.

 Costs are lowered as a result of production volumes increasing and experience

curve effects
 Sales volume peaks and market saturation is reached
 Increase in numbers of competitors entering the market
 Prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
 Brand differentiation and feature diversification is emphasized to maintain or
increase market share
 Industrial profits go down

Robi:
Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture company between Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia and
NTT DOCOMO INC, Japan. It was formerly known as Telekom Malaysia International
(Bangladesh) which commenced operations in Bangladesh in 1997 with the brand name ROBI.
On 28th March 2010, the service name was rebranded as ‘Robi’ and the company came to be
known as Robi Axiata Limited.
Robi is truly a people-oriented brand of Bangladesh. Robi, the people’s champion, is there for
the people of Bangladesh, where they want and the way they want. Having the local tradition at
its core, Robi marches ahead with innovation and creativity.Robi offers an array of different
packages. In addition to offering the fundamental pre-paid and post-paid mobile services, it
offers a wide range of value added products and services such as, SMS, GPRS, mobile data
services, infotainment services, SMS banking, Caller Ring Back Tone, Ringtones download,
Picture Messaging, MMS, Voice Greetings, Call Blocking on 4th August 2008, which give
subscriber to control which call he or she receive or not and Bengali SMS.

Robi has been offering scholarships to three Bangladeshi students every year for bachelor
courses in engineering, information technology and business administration since 1998 to study
at MultimediaUniversity in Malaysia. It is the founding member of Chittagong Skills
Development Centre (CSDC) that is offering technical training and business management
education through its strategic partnership with Penang Skill Development Centre (PSDC) of
Malaysia and its internal members.

Growth Stage of Robi:
During the growth stage, the public becomes more aware of the product; as sales and revenues
start to increase, profits begin to accrue.In this stage, sales take off, the market knows about
the product; other companies are attracted, profits begin to come in and market shares
stabilize.

Growth Stage: The graph shows the growth stage in the overall product life cycle.
Features of the growth stage:

 Costs reduced due to economies of scale: as production and distribution are ramped up,
economies of scale kick in and reduce the per unit costs.

 Sales volume increases significantly: as the product increases in popularity, sales

volumes increase.

 Profitability begins to rise: revenues begin to exceed costs, creating profit for the
company

 Public awareness increases: through increased promotion, visibility and word of mouth,
public awareness grows.

 Competition begins to increase with a few new players in establishing market

 Increased competition leads to price decreases: price wars may erupt, technology may
get cheaper, or other factors can ultimately lead to falling prices

Teletalk:
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is a public limited company, registered under the Registrar of the
Joint stock companies of Bangladesh. Total shares owned by the Government of the Peoples
Republic of Bangladesh.
We continue to grow and engage our customers through our clear commitment to offering high
quality products and services as well as leading customer retention and loyalty programmers.
Teletalk continues to be a part of the revolution that’s connecting millions of Bangladeshi
people and around the world.
Teletalk Bangladesh limited was established keeping a specific role in mind. Teletalk has forged
ahead and strengthened its path over the years and achieved some feats truly to be proud of,
as the only Bangladeshi mobile operator and the only operator with 100% native technical and
engineering human resource base, Teletalk thrives to become the true people’s phone –
“Amader Phone”.

Teletalk offers an array of different packages. In addition to offering the fundamental pre-paid
and post-paid mobile services, it offers a wide range of value added products and services such
as, SMS, GPRS, mobile data services, infotainment services, SMS banking, Caller Ring Back Tone,
Ringtones download, Picture Messaging, MMS, Voice Greetings.

Decline Stage of Teletalk:
The decline stage of the product life cycle is the one where the product ultimately ‘dies’ due to
the low or negative growth rate in sales (see ).

Decline Stage: The decline stage of the product life cycle is the terminal stage where sales
drop and production is ultimately halted.

Profitability will fall, eventually to the point where it is no longer profitable to produce, and
production will stop. As a number of companies start to dominate the market, it becomes
increasingly difficult for the company in question to maintain its level of sales. Consumer tastes
also change, as do new technologies which may make the product become ultimately obsolete
(as in the case of CDs and DVDs, and now Blu-Ray).

Features of the decline stage include:

 A decline in sales volume as competition becomes severe, and popularity of the product
falls;

 A fall in prices and profitability (the latter ultimately moving in the negative zone);

 A counter-optimal cost structure;

 Profit increasingly becomes a challenge of production/distribution efficiency rather than

increased sales.
It is important to note that product termination is not usually the end of the business cycle;
rather, it is only the end of a single entrant within the larger scope of an on-going business
program.