& 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

Mobile phone subscriber growth slows in February

Star Business Report
The rate of subscriber growth in the mobile telephone networks slowed somewhat in February, with the country's six mobile operators adding 1.14 million new users compared to 2.05million in the previous month.
According to the latest fig-ures released by the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC), up to February 2008, the total mobile phone subscriber reached 37.55 million, increased by 68 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. The total mobile phone subscriber was 22.38million by the end of February 2007.
In January, the subscriber acquisition number increased due to Eid festival, said industrysources.
“But the downward trend in February is a concern for the industry,” said a high official of a mobile phone operator, adding that inflation as well as the downward trend in the overall
economy may have forced people to prioritise spending on essentials such as food.
Grameenphone, the leading operator in the market, added 0.32million customers in February, which is 0.08 million less than that in the earlier month. In January 2008, 0.40million subscribers were added to the Grameen networks. In total, the company's subscribers reached 17.20 million by the end of February.
Grameen's close rival, Egyptian owned Banglalink's subscriber growth rate marked a rise in February compared to any other operator in the market. The company added 0.43million subscribers in the month. In January it added O.37million subscriber to its network. The company's total subscriber reached 7.88 million by the end of February 2008.
AKTEL added 0.08million to its network in February 2008, which is five times lower than its nearest rival Banglalink. The company's total subscribers were 7.36million by the end of
February 2008.
According to the BTRC, in terms of subscriber base, top three companies Grameen, Banglalink and AKTEL dominated more than 95 percent market shares. And the three other operators including country's oldest mobile operators Citycell, state owned Teletalk and UAE based Warid hold the rest 5 percent market shares.
The top three operators hold 32.44milion out of 37.55 million subscribers till February’ 2008, whereas the rest three hold only 5.11 million.
According to BTRC, the state-run Teletalk fail to add any subscriber in February 2008. The company's total subscribers were 1 million in February.
Citycell's subscribers increased to 1.51 million in February from 1.45million in January 2008. Warid subscribers reached 2.60million at the end of February 2008. The company's total subscribers were 2.37 million by the end of January 2008.