Banglalink

Infobox_Company
company_name = Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited
company_type = Subsidiary
parent = flagicon|Egypt Orascom Telecom
company_
foundation = 1999
location = flagicon|Bangladesh Tiger House, House # SW(H)04, Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan Model Town, Dhaka, Bangladesh
key_people = Rashid Khan, CEO
company_slogan = making a difference
industry = Telecommunication
area_served = 61 districts and 446 thanas
products = Telephony, GPRS
revenue = profit US $ 26.3 million [ [http://www.otelecom.com:80/files/media_Files/55821045_Earnings%20Release%20Third%20Quarter%202006.pdf Earnings Release Third Quarter 2006.doc] ]
homepage = [http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/ www.banglalinkgsm.com]

banglalink ( _bn. বাংলালিংক), is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh. As of August, 2008, banglalink has a subscriber base of more than 10 million [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSDHA6043920080820 Bangladesh's Banglalink tops 10 mln mobile users] ] . It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom.

banglalink had 1.03 million connections until December, 2005. The number of banglalink users increased by more than 253 per cent and stood at 3.64 million at the end of 2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year.

In August, 2006, banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming calls from BTTB for both postpaid and prepaid connections.

History

Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. was granted license in 1989 [ [http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/T_0107.htm BANGLAPEDIA: Telecommunication] ] to operate in the rural areas of 199 upazilas and later they were also allowed to extend to cellular mobile radio-telephone services.

In July, 2004, it was reported that Orascom Telecom is set to purchase through a hush-hush deal the Malaysian stakes in Sheba Telecom, as it had failed to tap the business potentials in Bangladesh mainly due to a chronic feud between its Malaysian and Bangladeshi partners. An agreement was reached with Orascom worth $25 million was finalized in secret. The pact has been kept secret for legal reasons, considering financial fallout and because of the feud.

The main reason for the undercover dealing was because the existing joint venture agreement between the Bangladeshi and the Malaysian partners dictates that if any party sells its Sheba shares, the other party will enjoy the first right to buy that.

Integrated Services Ltd (ISL), the Bangladeshi partner, was being 'officially' shown as purchasing the shares held by Technology Resources Industries (TRI) of Malaysia for $15 million. ISL then paid another $10 million to Standard Chartered Bank to settle Sheba's liabilities. Sheba had a base 59,000 users, of whom 49,000 were regular when it was sold [ [http://www.cellular.co.za/news_2004/july/071604-egyptian_co_sweeps_sheba_telecom.htm Egyptian Orascom Gets Sheba Telecom Malaysian stake] ] .

In September, 2004, Orascom Telecom Holdings purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited (“Sheba”). It was acquired for US$ 60 million and re-branded and launched its services under “banglalink” in February, 2005. banglalink’s license is a nationwide 15-year GSM license and will expire in November, 2011.

In March, 2008, Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited changed its name as Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited, matching its parent company name [ [http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=28574 Orascom Telecom Bangladesh new name of Sheba] ] .

Numbering Scheme

banglalink uses the following numbering scheme:

+880 19 N₁N₂N₃N₄N₅N₆N₇N₈

Where, 880 is the ISD code for Bangladesh and is needed only in case of dialing from outside Bangladesh.

19 is the access code for banglalink as allocated by the Government of Bangladesh. Omitting +880 will require using 0 in place of it instead to represent local call, hence 019 is the general access code.

N₁N₂N₃N₄N₅N₆N₇N₈ is the subscriber number.

Products Offered

Prepaid Packages

banglalink currently offers two prepaid plans. All the prepaid plans come in two phases—Standard (T&T incoming and outgoing with NWD and ISD) and M2M. All connections provide GPRS to subscribers.
*desh, with the slogan "One country, one rate", is one of the cheapest prepaid plans in the country by tariff. Users of desh can call any mobile operator at 0.99 taka (excluding VAT) during 9 AM to 5 PM and off-peak hours. It also has three FnF numbers.
*ladies, first!, with the slogan "Shomporker Network" (means "network of relationship"), is tailored for women. It has introduced 1 second pulse for the first time in the prepaid market and has four FnF numbers.

Postpaid Packages

Currently there are three postpaid plans from banglalink. These packages are called enterprise personal. All packages come with T&T local, NWD, ISD and e-ISD connectivity.
*personal package 1
*personal package 2
*personal call and control

banglalink enterprise

banglalink enterprise [ [http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=16023&email=html Banglalink rolls out GPRS and gets personal with businesses: CommsUpdate : TeleGeography Research ] ] offers a wide range of products and services to suit the needs of the business community. Companies under the enterprise package are provided with a dedicated enterprise relationship manager who provides them with personalized customer care round the clock. Other benefits of enterprise include customized packages with attractive call charges and connection price, enterprise SMS broadcast, enterprise short code, international roaming, missed call alerts, free voice mail retrieval, fax and data service, call conferencing, special offer for family members and many more. The current packages are:
*enterprise corporate; targeted at the corporate segment
*enterprise SME; targeted at the SME segment
*enterprise personal

banglalink CU

banglalink CU package is targeted at the shopkeepers, which offers PCO facility to the general public. It comes in two varieties:
*CU
*CU call and control

banglalink point

banglalink points are aimed at providing a complete mobile solution, connections, handsets, accessories and provide selected customer services like SIM replacement, reconnection, bill payment etc. They are strategically located at key points around the country [ [http://banglalinkgsm.com/html1/bl_point.php banglalink points] ] .

Kallol Group a local distribution company had partnered with banglalink to operate at least forty banglalink points through out the country [ [http://www.kallolgroup.com/business.html Kallol Group ] ] . As of March, 2008, the deal with Kallol Group has been called off and banglalink is focusing on managing its own customer care centers.

Criticisms and Penalty

In October, 2007, BTRC fined banglalink Tk. 1.25 billion for its involvement in illegal VoIP or call termination business [ [http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=7628 Banglalink fined Tk 125cr for illegal VoIP business] ] .

BTRC chairman major general (retd.) Manzurul Alam confirmed banglalink's involvement in the illegal trade. banglalink, however, in a statement said the company has agreed to make a one time fixed payment of Tk. 1.25 billion to the government as compensation for its loss in revenues.

banglalink initially failed to expand its network keeping pace with increased numbers of subscribers. This is due to the fact that banglalink was the fastest growing mobile operator at that time in the whole world. However, banglalink have invested heavily in 2007 and continued that in 2008 for improving network quality. banglalink's network coverage and network quality improved considerably and is among the best in Bangladesh now. Especially banglalink has the best international call quality in Bangladesh.

References

External links

* [http://www.banglalinkgsm.com Official Website of banglalink]
* [http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/desh/ desh Package]
* [http://www.ladiesfirst.com.bd ladies, first! Package]
* [http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/html1/enterprise_personal.php enterprise personal Package]
* [http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/enterprise/ enterprise Package]
* [http://www.upperclass.com.bd Upper Class Package]