Bangladesh’s mobile base touches 60m

The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reported that the country’s total number of mobile subscriptions reached 59.98 million at the end of June 2010, up by 27% year-on-year. Telenor unit GrameenPhone continues to lead the field by a wide margin with 26.46 million subscribers at mid-2010, up from 21.16 million a year earlier, ahead of Orascom subsidiary Banglalink with 16.10 million (11.05 million), Malaysian-backed Axiata (Robi) with 11.10 million (9.39 million), Warid (soon to be rebranded by Indian parent Bharti Airtel) 3.17 million (2.58 million), sole CDMA mobile operator CityCell 1.99 million (1.97 million) and state-owned Teletalk 1.16 million (1.10 million). In recent quarters, the figures in some operator’s reports have differed from those of the BTRC, particularly the parent group of Axiata, which has consistently posted higher totals than that attributed to it by the Bangladeshi regulator.