Top-up provider opens Dhaka office

Ezetop, an Ireland based top-up facility provider, is set to provide services to non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) from March.

The company will buy talk-time from local telecom operators and sell to people living or working abroad. Consumers will be able to instantly top-up the credit balance on their friends and family's mobile phones back home.

Initially, the company plans to provide services to NRBs in the Middle East, UK, US and Malaysia, where one can top-up $5-50 each time, said Mark Roden, chairman of Ezetop.

“We have opened our office here in Dhaka, and we have also completed

the agreement process with 2,200 retai-

lers in four regions, where majority

NRBs are living."

The company launched its office in Bangladesh on Wednesday and is in talks with Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for approval, said Roden.

“We are also in talks with all the local telecom operators. We hope to get approval and start providing the facility from March next year,” Roden said.

Initially, the company plans to invest $ 0.5 million on technical development, including equipment and staff, he said.

Ezetop eyes an average of $30,000 in revenues a month, Roden said.

Ezetop's services benefit mobile operators as they generate additional revenue outside their domestic market. It now offers direct connections to more than 140 international mobile opera-tors across Asia Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The company's existing operators include Telenor, Airtel, Orascom, Reliance, Digicel, Etisalat, Singtel, Vodafone and Warid.

Ezetop services are available from more than 220,000 retail stores in 16 countries, as well as online and on mobile phones through ezetop.com.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland,

the company has regional headquar-

ters in North America, Europe and

the Middle East.

Kenneth Thompson, Ireland ambassador to Bangladesh, inaugurated the Ezetop Dhaka headquarters at a programme at The Westin Dhaka.