Airtel Bangladesh
 | |
| independent product brand of Robi | |
| Industry | Telecommunication |
| Fate | merged into Robi |
| Predecessor | Airtel Bangladesh Limited; Warid Telecom Bangladesh |
| Founded | November 16, 2016 (merger completion date) |
| Headquarters | Robi Corporate Office, 53, Gulshan South Avenue, Gulshan, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh |
Key people | Mr. Mahtab Uddin Ahmed (CEO) |
| Services | Telecom, 2G, EDGE, 3G, HSPA+ |
| Parent | Axiata (68.7%), Bharti Airtel (25%), NTT Docomo (6.3%) |
| Website | bd.airtel.com |
airtel (Bengali: এয়ারটেল), in Bangladesh, is currently an independent product brand of Robi Axiata, since Robi Axiata Limited is the Licensee of 'airtel' Brand in Bangladesh.[1] The brand came under the control of Robi Axiata after Airtel Bangladesh Limited was successfully merged into Robi Axiata Limited on 16 November 2016.
Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture between Axiata Group of Malaysia, Bharti Airtel of India and NTT Docomo Inc. of Japan. Axiata holds 68.7% controlling stake in the entity, Bharti holds 25% while the remaining 6.3% is held by NTT Docomo of Japan.[2] It is the second largest mobile phone operator of Bangladesh as of October 2016. The company provides nationwide network coverage.
The airtel brand in Bangladesh was formerly owned by Airtel Bangladesh Ltd. which was previously known as Warid Telecom which was a GSM and 3G based mobile operator. Warid was the sixth mobile operator to enter the Bangladesh market and originally launched commercial operations under the brand name 'Warid' on May 10, 2007. In 2010, Bharti Airtel bought out majority share of the company.
History
In 2010, Warid Telecom sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's Bharti Airtel Limited for US$ 100,000. Bharti's proposal also included an initial $300-million investment in Warid for creating new shares in the company.[3][4] The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission approved the deal on Jan 4, 2010.[5] Bharti Airtel Limited took management control of the company and its board, and re-branded the company's services under its own 'airtel' brand from December 20, 2010.
In March, 2013, Warid Telecom sold its rest 30% share to Bharti Airtel's Singapore-based concern Bharti Airtel Holdings Pte Limited for US$ 85 million.[6][7][8]
On September 8, 2013, Airtel Bangladesh received 5 MHz of 3G spectrum at US$ 1.25 million.
On January 28, 2016, it was officially announced that Robi and Airtel Bangladesh will merge their operations in Bangladesh.[9] The combined entity will be called Robi, to serve about 32 million subscribers. Axiata Group will own 68.7% share, while Bharti Group will own 25%. The remaining shares will be owned by NTT DoCoMo.[10]
Robi and Airtel completed merger on November 16, 2016.[11]
Numbering scheme
Airtel Bangladesh uses the following numbering scheme:
+880 16 N8N4N9N3N6N9N0N0
Where, 880 is the ISD code for Bangladesh and is needed only in case of dialling from outside Bangladesh.
16 is the prefix for Airtel Bangladesh as allocated by the government of Bangladesh. Omitting +880 will require using 0 in place of it instead to represent local call, hence 016 is the general prefix.
N1N2N3N4N5N6N7N8 is the subscriber number.
Airtel's '016' prefix will go within a year of the merger with Robi; existing Airtel subscribers will be given Robi's current prefix of '018'.[12]
Products offered
Airtel provides both post-paid and pre-paid connection plans. Its prepaid features the remarkable Ajibon 1 Paisa offer. Airtel Postpaid and Airtel Prepaid users enjoy various value added services (VAS), such as SMS, MMS, GPRS, "Smart SIM", International Roaming, Corporate packages for product advertising via SMS etc. Despite offering the cheapest services, Airtel cannot properly resolve customers' complaints about its network quality.[13] Airtel is often blamed by its subscribers for the unclear voice quality on its 2G network.
Customer care
Airtel provides customer service through Airtel Experience Centers (AECs) and Airtel Relationship Centers (ARCs). AECs are directly run by Airtel itself.
SIM cards, recharge scratch cards, handsets and internet devices are sold at these outlets. Bill collection for post-paid users and "Ezeeload" (top-ups) for pre-paid users can also be availed at the franchises. These franchises directly appoint dealers and sub-dealers in their designated areas.
See also
References
- ↑ "Airtel Bangladesh". Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ↑ "Robi Airtel Press Release on merger".
- ↑ "Bharti bags Bangladesh's Warid for bargain price of Rs 45 lakh". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
- ↑ Krishna, R. Jai; Sahu, Prasanta (2010-01-12). "Bharti Airtel to Buy Warid Telecom for $300 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ↑ Ahmed, Rumman (2010-01-05). "Bharti Airtel to Invest $300 Million in Warid Telecom". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ↑ "Bharti Buys out airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 Oct 2013.
- ↑ "Robi-Airtel merger defers again". The Daily Star. Retrieved 26 Jun 2016.
- ↑ "Airtel spends $80 million for additional 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Ittefaq. Retrieved 2 Feb 2016.
- ↑ "Axiata and Bharti Airtel Agree to Merge Operations in Bangladesh". Axiata. 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
- ↑ "Malaysia's Axiata and India's Bharti to merge subsidiaries". Reuters. 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
- ↑ "Robi Airtel complete merger". The Daily Star.
- ↑ "Court clears way for Robi-Airtel merger". The Daily Star.
- ↑ "Technical glitch: Airtel subscribers suffer". The Daily Star. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
