Mobile phone operators have added nearly four million subscribers in the first four months of the year, as the industry has made a "turnaround" the companies say owe largely to subsidised sales of connections.
The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says 3.93 million new mobile phone users were added between January and April, posting a sizzling growth of 164 per cent over the same period last year.
Post and Telecommunications Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju said the new figure shows the mobile phone industry, which has been mired in stagnant growth between 2008 and 2009, has turned the corner.
"The new figure indicates a turnaround for the country's mobile phone industry after two years of stagnation. A stable political environment boosted the growth," he told the FE.
The companies are wooing more clients due to their aggressive marketing and improved services, he added.
But Zakiul Islam, president of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators Bangladesh (AMTOB), said the expansion came at a cost of huge subsidy by the country's six operators.
"For every SIM card we sold to a user, we pay at least 600 taka as subsidy", Mr Islam said.
Though the operators are selling SIM cards at Tk150-Tk250 each, they pay Tk800 in flat tax to the government for every connection, he said.
He said the impressive growth in the first four months was also boosted by up to 50 per cent cut in call tariffs and launching of array of new packages by thecompanies.
Islam said subsidy is still the most dominant factor in the country's mobile phone growth as the number of subscribers fell in September 2008 and March-April 2009 when the companies stopped paying financial support.
The AMTOB has urged the government to reduce tax on SIM cards, saying low-tax would boost growth in the rural areas where the service is most needed.
The latest acquisition by the operators took the number of subscribers to 56.36 million - still hovering around 38 per cent of the country's nearly 150 million population.
Among the operators, Robi, formerly known as Aktel, was the top seller, adding 1.53 million new connections to take its number to 10.82 million, according to the BTRC.
Grameenphone added 1.29 million users in January-April to retain its pole position with 24.55 million subscribers.
Banglalink sold 1.07 million new connections during the same period to keep its second position intact with 14.94 million subscribers.
Warid is yet to see any big leap in the subscribers' base as the company's new Bharti Airtel-led management has yet to come up with any major new package.
Citycell was the only one which posted negative growth as its number of active subscribers fell to 1.89 million from 1.91 million in April despite offering the lowest intra-network call tariffs in the country.
State-owned Teletalk has continued to be bottom-placed with 1.13 million users.
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