& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

AKTEL to raise cash in IPO, blames VoIP scandal for subscriber loss

TM IntT CEO tells WheM Star

Md Hasan
AKTEL. the country's second largest mobile phone operator, will use its listing on the stock market later this year to raise fresh cash, and blamed its recent fall in subscribers on the turmoil that engulfed the company following the VoIP scandal last year.
In an interview with The Daily Star yesterday YusofAnnuar Yaacob, chief executive officer of Telekom Malaysia (TM) International, the group that owns a majority ofAKTEL, valued the company at more than US$1 billion and said he expected the number of mobile operators in Bangladesh to fall to three in the coming years.
AKTEL is owned 70 percent by Telekom Malaysia and 30 percent by the Bangladeshi company AK Khan and Co. It had 6.53 million subscribers at the end of November, down from 6.70 at the end of September, according to figures from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
The fall came at a time when its main rivals Grameenphone. the number one operator, and Banglalink were adding new customers.
Yaacob said the fall was partly a result of the destablising effect the VoIP (voice over internet protocol) scandal had on the company. BTRC fined AKTEL Tk 145 crore for its involvement in VoIP, a technique used in Bangladesh to illegally terminate international calls. Its rivals GP. Banglalink, and CityCell were also fined.
/Wc-wrp badly and psychologi-. cattyattvcred bythvVolPcase Alotof-people within the organisation were not quite sure what was goingon".
*1 think the regulator did its job well. I have no problem with that We should have been more conscious on regulatory compliance".
Another reason behind the fall was a change in business strategy, he said. Last year AKTEL decided to encourage more usage rather than new customers, because of new taxes on SIM (subscriber identification module) cards.
AKTEL has to spend around S15 subsidizing each new SIM card due to a government tax introduced in 2006. However the average revenue per user (ARPU) per month is $3.5.
"So the strategy was to encourage more usage within our existing customer base rather than get new subscribers. That's why you saw a slow down in the new subscriber acquisition," he said.
However Yaacob said the mobile operator was once again adding new users." AKTEL’s customers are growing. Once we release our fourth quarter statistics you will see we are close to 7 million customers."
Yaacob estimated AKTEL is worth more than $1 billon, but the company needs some extra time before it is ready to list on the stock market.
"We made it clear to the government that we understand the regulatory requirement to have the company listed. But for AKTEL it may need extra time, because we need to clean up our business," Yaacob said.
The TM International CEO said that the company's strategy might be to issue new stock to raise cash rather than selling existing shares.
“It is unlikely that TM and AK Khan and Co will be selling shares as part of the IPO ((initial public offering).
"I think what will happen is we will issue new shares so that all the cash comes into'the business. So we may issue up to 10 percent of
the company towards the public and/AKTELgets the cash," he said.
TM and AK Khan's slake in the company would be reduced in proportion to their present holdings.
Asked by when AKTEL will list on the stock market, he replied the company hopes to start the process by the second half of 2008, but obviously it depends on AKTEL's business during the period.
"If you want a company to be listed, the company should be strong. Because you are selling shares to the public, you should have a responsibility to the investing public."
TM would not want to list a company that was weak, however he added, "If the business is okayed, we will achieve regulatory compliance within 2008."
Echoing the comments of GP CEO Anders Jensen, Yaacob said six mobile operators in Bangladesh were 'too many. "My own feeling is that in the next couple of years these number will probably come down to three."