UAE telco to start B'desh operations early '07

Dhaka, Dec 3: Warid Telecom, a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi Group, said it plans to start operations in Bangladesh early next year as the country's sixth cellphone carrier.

''The company is gearing up to launch its services in the first quarter of 2007,'' a Warid Telecom statement said.

It said the project would form the major part of Abu Dhabi Group's $1 billion investment commitment to Bangladesh over coming years.

On Sept. 1, 2005, the Abu Dhabi Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bangladesh over its proposed $1 billion investment, which included telecom, hospitality, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Warid Telecom was awarded a licence in October 2005 for $50 million to start operations in the telecommunications sector, which is now the fastest growing industry in the country.

Telecom subscriptions have doubled to 16 million over the past year alone, and experts estimate this figure could top 20 million by mid-2007.

Despite its poverty -- nearly half of Bangladesh's 140 million people live on less than a dollar day -- the country has been one of Asia's fastest growing cellular markets with a mobile penetration rate of around 12 percent.

Warid's rivals include Banglalink, a unit of Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom, GrameenPhone, majority owned by Norway's Telenor; AKTEL, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International; CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited and Singapore's SingTel, and state-run Teletalk.

REUTERS