Banglalink

Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd.
Subsidiary
Industry Telecommunication
Founded November 1996 (1996-11)[1]
Headquarters Tigers' Den, House#SW(H)04, Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Sharak, Gulshan-1, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Area served
 Bangladesh (Nationwide coverage)
Key people
 Erik Aas,[2] CEO
Products Mobile Telephony, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, FDD-LTE
Parent VEON
Website www.banglalink.net

Banglalink (Bengali: বাংলালিংক) is the third largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh. Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd. (previously Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd.) is fully owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd.[3] (previously Orascom Telecom Ventures Ltd.) of Malta, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding. Following business combination, in April 2011, between VEON and Wind Telecom S.P.A, VEON owns 51.92% shares of global telecom holding. VEON is one of the world's largest integrated limited telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia,Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Algeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. VEON is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and is listed as an ads on the Nasdaq global select market under the symbol "VIP".

Banglalink attained 1 million subscribers by December 2005 and 3 million subscribers in October 2006. In less than two years, by December 2007, Banglalink overtook Aktel (Now Robi) to become the second largest operator in Bangladesh with more than 7.1 million customers.

As of August 2018, Banglalink has a subscriber base of 33.4 million with 21.88% market share.[4] It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom Ventures Ltd. of Malta which is owned by Global Telecom Holding.

Banglalink had 1.03 million connections until December 2005. The number of Banglalink users increased by 257 percent[5] 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. On 20 August 2008, Banglalink got past the landmark of a 10 million subscriber base.[6]

History

Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. was granted license in 1989[7] to operate in the rural areas of 199 upazilas. Later it obtained nationwide 15-year GSM license in November 1996 to extend its business to cellular mobile, radio telephone services. It launched operation in the last quarter of 1997 as a Bangladesh-Malaysia joint venture.

Tigers' Den (Banglalink's headquarters) at Gulshan.

In July 2004, it was reported that Egypt based Orascom Telecom is set to purchase the Malaysian stakes in Sheba Telecom through a hush-hush deal, as Sheba had failed to tap the business potentials in Bangladesh mainly due to a chronic feud between its Malaysian and Bangladeshi partners. An agreement was reached with Orascom worth USD 25 million, in secret. The pact has been kept secret for legal reasons, considering financial fallout and because of the feud. The main reason for the undercover dealing was the joint venture agreement between the Bangladeshi and the Malaysian partners, which dictates that if any party sells its Sheba shares, the other party will enjoy the first right to buy that.

Integrated Services Ltd. (ISL), the Bangladeshi partner, was being 'officially' shown as purchasing the shares held by Technology Resources Industries (TRI) of Malaysia for $15 million. ISL then paid another $10 million to Standard Chartered Bank to settle Sheba's liabilities.

In September 2004, Orascom Telecom Holdings purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited. It was acquired for USD 60 million. Sheba had a base of 59,000 users, of whom 49,000 were regular when it was sold.[8] Afterward it was re-branded and launched its services under the "Banglalink" brand on 10 February 2005.

In March 2008, Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited changed its name as Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited, matching its parent company name.[9]

In July 2013, following the 2011 ownership restructuring in the parent company,[10] the company name changed for the second time to Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd.[11]

Numbering Scheme

Banglalink uses the following two numbering scheme:

+880 19 N1N2N3N4N5N6N7N8

+880 14 N1N2N3N4N5N6N7N8

Where, 880 is the ISD code for Bangladesh and is needed only in case of dialing from outside Bangladesh.

19 and 14 is the access code for Banglalink as allocated by the Government of Bangladesh[12]. Omitting +880 will require using 0 in place of it instead to represent local call, hence 019 and 014 is the general access code.

N1N2N3N4N5N6N7N8 is the subscriber number.

Products Offered

Prepaid Packages

Under a simplified product portfolio, Banglalink currently offers one prepaid plan for its customers. The prepaid plan comes in two phases—Standard (T&T incoming and outgoing with nationwide dialling and ISD) and M2M. All connections provide EDGE, GPRS, 3G, HSPA, HSPA+, 4G, LTE to subscribers.

  • Banglalink Desh Ek Rate Darun, is currently the default package for all new Banglalink prepaid connections. In this package a subscriber can enjoy a simple tariff plan with flat rate of 22 paisa/10 second to all local numbers.

Former Packages:

  • Regular Prepaid was the first package Banglalink had to offer. It is currently unavailable in the market.
  • Ladies, first!, with the slogan Shomporker Network (means network of relationships), was tailored for women. It offered four FnF numbers. It was launched in 2005 and is currently unavailable in the market. It introduced 1 second pulse for the first time in the prepaid market.
  • Be linked! was launched in 2005. It was later taken over by Desh package as all the 'Be linked!' customers were automatically migrated to Desh.
  • Desh, with the slogan Ek desh Ek Rate! (means one country one rate!), was launched in 2006. It had three FnF numbers (Friends and Family) with cheaper rates for frequent call destinations.
  • Desh Rang was launched as a brand extension to enrich the brand of Desh. Rang is a Bengali word which means colour. It was introduced with the catchphrase Rangiye Din Apnar Jeebon (means colour your life.). This package was aimed for customers who mainly make calls to their own network and are heavy SMS users. It offered four on-net FnF numbers, but no off-net FnF number.

Postpaid Packages

Currently there is only one postpaid plan from Banglalink for its customers. The package comes with T&T local, nationwide dialling, ISD and e-ISD connectivity.

  • Banglalink Inspire, the default postpaid package for all new Banglalink postpaid connections, offers low call rates with other services and facilities. In this package, customers can add up to seven FnF numbers to any mobile operator.

Former Packages:

  • Upper Class, was launched on 31 July 2005.[13] It mainly targeted upscale consumers. Upper Class was known for offering purple carpet treatment to its clients, giving special attention with separate counters at sales and customer care centers, and a dedicated hotline. It had numerous packages under two different tariff plans—tailor made and made to measure. In addition to those, it introduced a hybrid product named Call and Control designed to offer the value of postpaid with the control of prepaid. Later Enterprise Personal took control of upper class.

PROpaid Packages

Banglalink PROpaid is specifically designed for the new generation professionals. It provides good value for money in voice and internet bundles with exciting partnership offers and flat Pay-As-You-Go rate, to make life more convenient for the young professionals. Currently, there are two package plans under Banglalink PROpaid.

Banglalink Business[14] offers a wide range of products and services to suit the needs of the business community. Companies under this package are provided with a dedicated relationship manager who provides them with personalized customer care round the clock. Other benefits include customized packages with attractive call charges and connection price, SMS broadcast, business short code, international roaming, missed call alerts, free voice mail retrieval, fax and data service, call conferencing, special offer for family members and many more. The current packages are:

  • Corporate Postpaid, is targeted at the corporate segment, providing facilities like tailor made packages, customize data and voice bundle, dedicated Corporate Relationship Manager, business customer service, E-bill facility etc.
  • Banglalink SME, is targeted at the Bangladeshi SME segment, providing facilities like competitive call rates, field force locator service, bulk SMS service, community based tariff for helping small businesses grow.
  • Banglalink SOHO, is targeted at the small home businesses and have facilities like bulk SMS and friend finder.

Network

Banglalink has recently increased the amount of its total spectrum by 53 percent by acquiring 10.6 MHz spectrum at over Tk 3,000 crore.[15]The company acquired 4G license in February 2018, and initially started providing 4G services from 400 of its 9,500 base stations. Investment of over USD 1 billion is planned to upgrade the current network condition of Banglalink.[16]

Banglalink delivers customer care using its call centers and customer care networks. Currently Banglalink provides customer care services to its clients through:

Banglalink Service Point at Dhanmondi.
  • Banglalink Service Points are aimed at providing a complete mobile solution, connections, handsets, accessories and provide selected customer services like SIM replacement, re-connection, bill payment etc. They are located at key points around the country.[17]
  • Banglalink Care Lines are call centers serving customers 24 hours 7 days a week with instant solutions.

Corporate Responsibility

Since its inception Banglalink has undertaken many projects each year for the welfare of community and preservation of the environment. It has also been actively engaged in supporting the affected people in various natural calamities, by participating in several relief distribution initiatives throughout the country. Some of the CR activities of the company include:

  • Disaster Relief and Emergency Response: In 2017 Banglalink, with support of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society completed relief distribution to the landslide affected people of Bandarban and Rangamati region. They also engaged in disaster relief distribution in the flood affected areas and distributed relief items to more than 5000 families who were affected and suffered flood.
  • Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach Cleaning Project and International Coastal Cleanup Day: Banglalink had been making a difference in preventing environmental pollution at Cox’s Bazar beach and preserving the environment, by arranging International Coastal Cleanup Day since 2005.
  • Blanket Donation at Orphanages: Banglalink has been taking initiative to distribute blankets among the orphan children of many orphanages around the country since 2009.
  • Special Arrangements for Hajj Pilgrims at the Hajj Camp: Banglalink has been taking initiatives to provide free services to Hajj pilgrims since 2009 at Hajj camp. This includes arranging air-conditioned buses for pilgrims, providing water distribution zones, phone counters for making free phone calls, free charging units etc.
  • Water and Dates Distribution, and Iftar at Orphanages during Ramadan: Since 2009, Banglalink has been distributing free water and dates for the fasting people at major traffic points of selected metro cities for Iftar during Ramadan. Banglalink has also been taking initiative of arranging regular Iftar & dinner in different orphanages around the country.
  • ICT Support for Underprivileged Children with Computer Labs: To eliminate illiteracy and to enlighten the students of our society, Banglalink has successfully set up computer labs in 270 underprivileged schools at different parts of the country in 2011. The computer labs are equipped with PC, laptop, internet modem, multimedia projector, speakers and microphone.

References

  1. ↑ "Home – Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd – Crislbd" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Chief Executive Officer
  3. ↑ "Company Overview of banglalink digital communications limited". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "No of GP subscribers crosses 7-cr mark". BTRC. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. ↑ About Banglalink
  6. ↑ "Bangladesh's Banglalink tops 10 mln mobile users". Reuters. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Alam, Mahbubul (2012). "Telecommunication". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  8. ↑ "Egyptian Orascom Gets Sheba Telecom Malaysian stake". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Orascom Telecom Bangladesh new name of Sheba". The Daily Star. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "Vimpelcom confirms closing of 'large and complex' Wind Telecom deal". TeleGeography. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Orascom Telecom changes company name". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "GP, Banglalink to get new number series". The Daily Star. 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  13. ↑ Banglalink unveils new post-paid service
  14. ↑ "About Banglalink Business". Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Banglalink's 4G to reach all district HQs by June: CEO". The Daily Star. 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  16. ↑ "Banglalink gears up for a powerful 4G network". www.banglalink.net. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  17. ↑ banglalink points
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