Logo of Grameenphone
Robi, the second largest carrier, also saw tepid growth compared to a year ago, according to the latest data of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
Subscriber growth of the country’s largest mobile phone operator Grameenphone stumbled last year, as the carrier failed to rope in even half the new subscribers it had garnered in 2018.
Robi, the second largest carrier, also saw tepid growth compared to a year ago, according to the latest data of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
Industry people believe the longstanding tussle with the government involving GP and Robi’s audit claims and punishments held back their expected growth.
The overall growth of mobile phone users in the country also declined last year compared to previous year amid volatility in the telecom sector.
The BTRC data shows that in 2019 the four mobile phone operators added 80 lakh new subscribers which was 99 lakh the previous year.
Among the four, leading mobile phone company GP added 34 lakh new subscribers in 2019, which added 69 lakh new subscribers in the previous year.
With the new users the total number of GP customer stood at 7.64 crore last year.
“During the second half of 2019, higher tax imposition on SIM and the regulatory restrictions on importing network equipment heavily impacted our planned network rollout and modernization that resulted negatively in customer acquisition,” said GP in an email statement to Dhaka Tribune.
The second largest operator Robi added 21 lakh new subscribers last year compared to 26 lakh in 2018. The total subscriber base of Robi stood at 4.90 crore as of December 31 last year.
“If you analyze the growth data, both Banglalink and Teletalk added more users in 2019 compared to 2018. But GP and Robi witnessed lower growth in customer number as both the companies have been going through various difficulties with the government,” a senior official at a mobile company told Dhaka Tribune.
He said as GP and Robi’s growth declined, the overall number got affected.
After an audit of the two mobile phone operators, the BTRC in 2016 claimed Tk12,579.95 crore from GP and Tk867.23 crore from Robi in taxes and late fees accumulated over several years.
The dispute about the audit intensified last year and both the companies faced regulatory punishment, including suspension of service and expansion, for not clearing the audit claims.
The total number of active mobile users was 16.55 crore in the country last year, which was 15.75 crore in the previous year.
Banglalink added 16 lakh new subscriber last year that took its total subscribers base to 3.52 crore. The company added 12 lakh new subscribers in 2018.
The total subscribers of state-run Teletalk stood at 48.68 lakh last year as the company added 9.83 lakh new subscribers. The company, however, lost 6.99 lakh subscribers in 2018.
