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Banglalink overtakes AKTEL as 2nd largest cellphone operator

Total subscribers reach 34.37m in 2007

Md Hasan
Banglalink has overtaken AKTEL as the country's second largest mobile phone operator, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) whose new figures show the total number of mobile subscribers reached 34.37 million by the end of2007.
According to the figures released yesterday, the Egyptian owned banglalink almost doubled its number of subscribers in 2007, up from 3.64 million at the start of the year to 7.08 million by the end ofDecember.
Ln contrast AKTEL’s growth was modest up around 7 percent in the year to 6 40 million. Since reaching a peak in September AKTEL’s number of subscribers has been steadily declining, according to BTRC
Gramecnphone still holds its number one position with 16.48 million subscribers at the end of December, up 53 per cent on the same date a year earlier.
In a recent interview Yusof Annuar Yaacob, Chief Executive of Telecom Malaysia's International, the company that owns 70 percent of AKTEL blamed the regulator's drive against VoIP for the fall in subscribers.
“We were badly and psychologically affected by the VoIP (voice over internet protocol) case," he said.
He also said that the company's strategy to encourage more usage rather than new customers had limited AKTEL’s growth.
UAE-based Warid Telecom acquired 2.15 million customers in just eight months after launching in May 2007. The company is now' fourth among the six rivals in the market, exceeding Citycell, the country's oldest mobile phone operator.
Government owned Teletalk is the smallest operator with less than 1 million subscribers.
While subscriber numbers have rocketed, the intense competition has forced operators to cut prices and spend heavily on marketing. This has hit profits in the sector; with several operators claiming the market is now overcrowded.
In an interview with The Daily Star yesterday, Major General
Manzurul Alam (retd), chairman of BTRC, said he would not stand in the way of mergers - between the country’s mobile phone operators, but will set strict conditions to ensure no single company controls ' the market.
According to the BTRC, the number of mobile phone subscriber increased by 58 percent to 34.37 million in December 2007 from 21.77 million a year earlier.