'I don't expect aggressive bidding for 3G in Bangladesh'

What is your reaction to Bharti Airtel's entry into the Bangladesh telecom market? Does operator's aggression in Indian and Sri Lankan market worry you?

We see Bharti as a great success story considering the kind of business models and innovative strategies that it has adopted. We as a group, have due respect for the company. We do not undervalue their strengths. We look at Bharti Airtel's foray into Bangladesh telecom market as an opportunity. I prefer an active competition to a sluggish rival. A competitive environment will be in the best interest of the market and consumers. We welcome their presence and hope they will make the telecom space here more exciting.

VoIP is awaiting legalization in Bangladesh. How is making VoIP legal in the country going to impact the service provider business?

VoIP is a major issue in Bangladesh like most of the other telecom markets. It is not only a threat to the national security, but it also robs the operators of international termination revenues. It is a matter of grave concern to service providers in the country. At Banglalink, we have deployed meucci solutions to identify illegal VoIP call termination tools that enable the detection of SIM cards that are used for illegal VoIP connections.

India saw 3G bid prices sky-rocketing. What do you think is the scene going to be like in the Bangladeshi market?

I do not see Indian 3G bidding patterns replicating in Bangladesh. I think that In India 3G spectrum prices were high due to scarcity of spectrum for voice and most of the operators had the intent of using that spectrum for voice. However, the business case looks quite different for the Bangladeshi market. Also, Indian operators have more matured businesses and their financial health is different from that of Bangladeshi operators. I don't expect aggressive bidding for 3G here.

What is your strategy to tap the data market?

So far, 3G licences haven't been awarded in Bangladesh. We have been trying to leverage 2G to popularize data services. No operator in Bangladesh has the coverage to provide pan-national data services. Content is scarce in the country, besides low penetration of 3G handsets. Till now, data is not making any significant contribution to our overall revenues. Bangladesh is still a voice driven market, we are at the beginning of a slow moving learning curve. The penetration of cellular services is still relatively low at about 41%. At present, it makes more sense to bring more and more potential subscribers on board. It is worth mentioning that Bangladeshi users have great abilities to adapt to new services.

Heena Jhingan
heenaj@cybermedia.co.in