BANGLALINK
BANGLALINK
BANGLALINK
T
he strategy of Orascom Telecom Limited is to provide quality GSM service under superior
managerial techniques and controlled condition. The company also has a great emphasis on
creating job opportunities for the women population of the community. The main visionary of
the company is Mr. Naguib Sawiris, who is also the Chairman & Managing Director of the
company. All the grand strategy of the company is set by him.
To ensure efficiency and effectiveness the recruitment policy of Banglalink for each
management level is unique according to its needs. The company values their employees. The
company uses critical incident techniques to appraise their performances. Among other things
they provide. The company has taken up a string of measures to keep the morale of the
employees high. The company also employs controlling techniques to keep the service at
their best. The company recognizes its responsibility towards the society in which it operates
its business. Consequently the company has adopted a proactive attitude towards its social
responsibilities.
After carefully examining the management of Orascom Telecom Limited, it is clear they are
using high number of distributors to gain market share. They are trying to make Banglalink
the most easily and widely available GSM service in Bangladesh by hiring large number of
distributors and making the most versatile packages and services available. And after
analyzing the reports and studying the market it is quite clear that they are fairing quite well
according to their company objectives.
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Table of Contents
1) Introduction 03
2) Bangladesh Telecommunication Market 04
3) Banglalink 07
4) Promotions 13
5) Banglalink Icon 13
6) Business Environment 14
7) Management Functions 16
8) Human Resource Management 19
9) Brand Portfolio 28
10) Finance 28
11) Operations 29
12) Corporate Social Responsibility 41
13) BCG Matrix 45
14) SWOT Analysis 46
15) Recommendation 49
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Introduction
Background
Telecom is a booming sector in the country today. Foreign investments have flowed into the
country over the past few years in huge amounts. Bangladesh, with a population base of
140m provides a very prospective environment for foreign telecoms to invest. The urban
population at present is approximately 29 million people. About 22% of the urban population
is considered middle class (with an average household income of USD 3,254), who are
increasingly becoming more capable of purchasing consumer goods, and this class is
growing. In any case, the urban population is forecasted to rise to 99 million by the year
2030, says a study by World Bank. This will lead to an increase in consumer demand within
the economy, and thereby will increase the probability of purchasing of mobile phone. There
is sustaining need for telecommunication all over the world. Bangladesh is no different. But
how much of the demand is actually met? The rising of telecommunication is further proven
by the extreme rush for purchasing airtimes, booking billboards, attractive offers and what
not. In any case, such activities are going to continue to increase in the future with the
dissolving of boundaries and expansion of globalization.
Banglalink is an aggressive telecom in the country and within a year of operation has
established certain benchmarks. Despite having the 2nd largest market share, Banglalink is
perceptually the leader in terms of innovation of products, services and communication.
Orascom telecom Bangladesh limited ("Banglalink") is a 100% owned subsidiary of Orascom
telecom holding s.a.e., Egypt, ("Oth") in Bangladesh. It was acquired by Oth in 2004, and
after a complete overhaul and the deployment of a new GSM network, its telecommunication
services were re-launched under the brand name Banglalink. When Banglalink began
operations in Bangladesh in February 2005, its impact was felt immediately: overnight
mobile telephony became an affordable option for customers across a wide range of market
segments. Banglalink’s success was based on a simple mission: "bringing mobile telephony
to the masses" which was the cornerstone of its strategy. Banglalink changed the mobile
phone status from luxury to a necessity and brought mobile telephone to the general people of
Bangladesh and made a place in their hearts. The mobile phone has become the symbol for
the positive change in Bangladesh. This positive change that is quite correctly attributed to
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Banglalink, has become the corporate positioning of Banglalink and is translated in their
slogan "making a difference" or "din bodol". "Making a difference" not only in the telecom
industry, but also through its products and services, to the lives of its customers. This
corporate stance of "making a difference" has been reflected in everything Banglalink does.
Banglalink attained 1 million subscribers by December 2005 and 3 million subscribers in
October 2006. In less than two years which is by December 2007, Banglalink overtook Aktel
to become the second largest operator in Bangladesh with more than 7.1 million customers.
Banglalink currently has 14.22 million subscribers as of march 2010, representing a market
share of 26%. Growth over the last years have been fuelled with innovative products and
services targeting different market segments, aggressive improvement of network quality and
dedicated customer care, creating an extensive distribution network across the country, and
establishing a strong brand that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink.
After becoming available in 1993, mobile phones took off slowly in Bangladesh where nearly
half the 140 million population lives on less than one dollar a day. Only 1.56 among 100
people has access to telecoms facility, the 2003 data of the UN telecoms watchdog say.
Telecommunications services in Bangladesh are provided principally by the Bangladeshi
Telegraph and Telephone Board (the “BTTB”), the incumbent state owned fixed line
operator, with respect to fixed-line services, and by six GSM mobile operators, Robi (Axiata
Malaysia), Banglalink (Orascom Telecom), Citycell (Singtel, Pacific Group & Far East
Telecom), Grameenphone (Telenor & Grameen Telecom), TeleTalk (Bangladesh Telegraph
and Telephone Board) and Warid Telecom Bangladesh (Warid Telecom).
The fixed line telecom sector is invigorating for an enormous sprint in investment, as the
telecom watchdog has finalized the frequency distribution to all 19 private licensees. The
formal introduction of state-run BTTB mobile phone was on 28th December 2004 which is
seen as a milestone in our telecom account. Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
(BTTB) would release SIM cards for 2.5 lakh mobile connections of GSM (Global System
for Mobile) technology in the first phase, out of targeted 10 lakh connections under the
scheme.
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1.1 Historical Background
The Telegraph branch of the Posts and Telegraph Department was created in 1853 in the then
British India, which was afterwards regulated under the Telegraph Act of 1885. This was
reconstructed in 1962 as Pakistan Telegraph and Telephone Department. After the
independence of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 1971, Bangladesh Telegraph and
Telephone Department was set up under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to
run the Telecommunication Services in Bangladesh. This was converted into a corporate
body named Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board after promulgation of Bangladesh
Telegraph and Telephone Board Ordinance no. XLVII of 1975. In pursuance of Ordinance
no. XII of 1979 promulgated on 24th February 1979, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone
Board were again converted into a Government Board.
The growth of the telephone exchange capacity of Bangladesh from 1995 to 2000 was
discouraging- an average growth rate of only 40, 000 lines per annum whereas, pending and
growing demand of telephones has been increasing at a faster rate than growth in the installed
capacity of telephone exchange system (BTTB history, n.d.).
BTTB is not the sole provider of telephone services in Bangladesh. In 1998, four different
private operators were allowed to operate in different types of telecommunication services.
Of these 2 of the operators worked in rural areas, one was providing radio trunking and
passive services and one was providing mobile phone services. The mobile service provider
was City Cell sponsored by Pacific Bangladesh Telecom limited (City Cell history, n.d.). City
Cell provided telecom services both in rural and urban areas. Although mainly based in cities
and towns, city cell had interconnectivity with BTTB’s land lines (City Cell history, n.d.).
City Cell was the first mobile service provider of Bangladesh. Initially it had a monopoly on
the mobile service but only until 1996 (City Cell history, n.d.). In 1996 two new operators
entered the market- GrameenPhone and Sheba. Sheba’s service was limited to Dhaka but
GrameenPhone (GP) spread its network rapidly (Sheba history. n.d.). Today out of the 64
districts, GP serves 50 districts in Bangladesh and its network is divided into 6 zones- Dhaka,
Chitagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Barishal, and Rajshahi. GP has two kinds of services- GP national
and GP regular. GP national provides connection with BTTB and all other mobiles
throughout the country wherever GP has its network. GP regular only connects to GP mobiles
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throughout the country according to its coverage. Although BTTB has not been able to reach
the villages, Grameen’s cell phones have reached a massive number of villages. GP, funded
by the Grameen Bank (10%) and Nortel (90%), has used the optical fiber network owned by
Bangladesh Railway (Grameen’s village program, n. d.). The fiber optic cables were
originally laid by the Bangladesh Rural Transport Authority (BRTA) but never used (BTTB
Project Concept, November, 2004). Therefore, Grameen Phone’s network has been easily
connected to any mobile users who are adjacent to Bangladesh railway tracks. The GP’s
village program was started in 1997 and is providing service to people in the remote rural
areas of BD. According to statistics of October 2003, there are more than 39,000 village
phones in operation. These village phones are operating in 58 districts and in approximately
28,000 villages- providing telecom facilities to more than 50 million people in remote areas
Besides GP, CityCell and Sheba there is a fourth cell phone operator called Robi. Robi joined
BD’s fast cell phone operation in 1999. Although mainly based in Dhaka, like Sheba, Robi
has been able to attract customers and maintain control of quality. Lastly in 2007 Warid
telecom came into the business.
This part of the report provides a brief overview on the four major players of the Telecom
Industries. It is simple general information on the companies explaining their positions and
potentials in the market. This would be helpful to make a correlation between the business
graduates’ choice and the prospect of these companies to get the best brains available in the
market.
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2 Banglalink
Banglalink, was the last addition to the GSM family of OTH when on October 20th, 2004.
Orascom Telecom announced the actual purchase of Sheba Telecom with a cost of 60 M $, as
well as the company’s re- branding under the name of Banglalink with the leveraging
promise to provide the people in Bangladesh, quality service at the most affordable prices
fitting to their communications needs. It is also worth mentioning that an unprecedented
success of sales results followed the Commercial launch of Banglalink on the 10th of Feb
05. OTH expects its subsidiary to invest over US$200 million in expanding its network
coverage and capacity and deploying its services during the coming years. In September
2004, Orascom Telecom Holding acquired a mobile services company, Sheba Telecom (Pvt.)
Ltd. in Bangladesh with a nationwide GSM license valid until 2011. Since then, OTH has
installed new management, upgraded the network and re-branded the company as Banglalink.
Banglalink has rapidly deployed new network infrastructure, set up a distribution network
and points of sale, and designed complete commercial plans to offer high quality voice and
data telecommunications services at competitive prices to the people of Bangladesh. OTH
operates a GSM network in Bangladesh and provides a range of prepaid and postpaid voice,
data and multimedia telecommunications services. As of June 30, 2009, Banglalink already
has 11.04 million subscribers. Banglalink has an approximate market share of 23.7%.
Banglalink’s license is a nationwide 15-year GSM license that expires in November 2011. It
was acquired for US$ 60 million and re-branded and launched its services under
“Banglalink” in February 2005.
Few years ago, Orascom Telecom Holding has started their business and has already
established themselves as one of the largest conglomerate telecommunication company in the
world. Basically, they are doing their business in Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan and in
Bangladesh as well. They are providing the GSM network. They started their business in
Egypt in 1998 with MobiNil and still they are expanding their business throughout the world.
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They have already owned a huge market share in many countries. But, in Bangladesh, they
have taken over Sheba Telecom and started their business. On October 20th, 2004, Orascom
Telecom announced the actual purchase of Sheba Telecom for 60 million dollars, as well as
the company’s re-branding under the name of Banglalink, with the leveraging promise to
provide the people of Bangladesh quality service at the most affordable prices suitable to
their communications needs.
Sheba re-branded its operation under the trade name “Banglalink” shortly after it was
acquired by OTH. Banglalink provides its subscribers with basic voice services, messaging
services and value-added services. Banglalink offers a prepaid and postpaid telephony
service. Banglalink has entered into international roaming agreements with more than 250
operators. Banglalink provides customer support through a 24-hour a day, seven day a week
call center. Banglalink sells its mobile telecommunications services through indirect channels
and Banglalink-owned shops. Banglalink has agreements with exclusive national distributors.
In addition to this indirect channel, Banglalink owns and operates shops in major cities,
which also act as a point of service and supports its customers.
Banglalink gives the highest importance on the quality of our coverage to ensure that the
customers have the best experience while using the service.
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2.4 Network Coverage
Banglalink has stayed true to its vision all throughout. It spread its network in record speed
and covered all of the 61 districts, 425 thanas, and 88% of the total population of Bangladesh.
These incredible milestones were achieved in less than a year, whereas other companies had
taken several years to do so.
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2.5 Shared Values
We know that Banglalink is a brand extension of Orascom Telecom Holding. They have
started their business in Bangladesh and they are trying to capture the huge number of
customers under their service. They are committed to provide the best service to the
customers and they are trying to do according to their goal. They have set a certain value
through which they will be trying to achieve their goal and those are:
Straight Forward
Reliable
Innovative
Passionate
According to them, they are totally committed to serve the best possible service for the
customers and for ensure that they will invest huge financial resources in Bangladesh.
They are also trying to make a difference in the customers’ mind. Like in our country, most
of the people are not eligible to bear the expense of a cell phone. By considering this fact,
they are trying to make this cell phone available for all customers by offering those packages
which is affordable for all. They are trying to penetrate the whole market with those low cost
packages.
2.5.1 Vision
Banglalink understands people's needs best and will create and deliver appropriate
communication services to improve people's life and make it easier.
2.5.2 Mission
Banglaink’s mission is to provide the best quality services to their customers, value to their
shareholders, and a dynamic working environment for their employees.
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2.5.3 Objective
In future, Banglalink wants to be the number one telecom operator in Bangladesh. To achieve
this goal necessary steps are already taken and more innovative ideas are generating to
achieve the goal as early as possible. Within the three years of operation Banglalink has
captured 1 million customers in Bangladesh, whereas the leading company GrameenPhone
reached their first million in 9 years of operation. GrameenPhone reached their first million in
2005 and Banglalink started their operation in Bangladesh in 2005. Within the next three
years both the companies are running into the same pace according to customer reach.
The biggest barrier today for people is the cost of handsets. Banglalink will strive to lower
the total cost of owning a mobile. They are here to help make a difference in people's lives by
providing affordable and reliable connectivity solutions. They will strive to connect people
and link their lives by listening to them and by understanding their needs. They are here to
help us speak our language.
The market consists of different types of users with different core needs. It is important to
identify the core needs of the customer groups and service the unique needs in unique ways.
2.7.1 Segmentation
Banglalink has segmented the telecom market according to the needs and wants of the
customers. The segmentation has been done to target the consumer groups in the market and
identifying their core needs.
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Banglalink has identified that fact that the needs of the corporate customers will not be the
same as those from the personal or individual market. Hence, banglalink has come with
specific products targeting the specific market segments.
Banglalink is the only telecom which has segmented its customer base fully. The packages
offered for these segments are:
Banglalink enterprise personal (Postpaid)
Banglalink enterprise SME (Postpaid)
Desh (Prepaid)
Desh Rang (Prepaid)
The personal post paid packages are tailored to serve the exact purposes and give the best
value for money. The enterprise SME package is a customized package offering solutions to
anyone starting up a business of his/her own. Desh package is for those users who want to
talk to any network (specially other network) at any time at lower rate. Desh Rang is most
beneficial for customers who mainly make calls to their own network and are heavy SMS
users. These packages were created keeping in mind, the needs of the people who prefer to be
treated differently. The communication of these packages is likewise done in a way to attract
people of the fitting segments.
It’s true that all the segments are competitive. But, the positioning strategy that Banglalink is
adopting will help them to effectively use those segments. As far as the Bangladesh market is
concern, a huge chunk of people wants to have quality product with low price. Actually their
target customers are the young and middle age people of Bangladesh.
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3 Promotions
Banglalink uses consumer promotion tools, these tools used to urge short-term customer
buying or to enhance long-term customer relationships. First one is samples, which are offers
of a trial amount of products. Next one is cash refunds or cash rebates; which is like coupons
expect that they will give a bonus amount after purchasing a SIM card. They also offer cash
back according to their customers’ usage. They have free SMS service. They also offer free
talk time for their customers. Consumer promotion tools are used by Banglalink to promote
their product. Banglalink also took the following steps to promote their product and brand.
In this section they basically concentrate in their Banglalink theme. They choose musical type
as their massage strategy. In this strategy, they show people or celebrities are singing about
the product. They made their TVC based on their theme music. This communication based on
its corporate tune which carries the legacy of Banglalink through a refreshing perspective of
“Positive Bangladesh” - with amazing cultural heritage, people, music and scenic beauty of
our very own country. This campaign is aimed at reinforcing our corporate tune firmly in the
mind of the audience on the canvas of a positive face of Bangladesh. Another electronic
medium is Radio. Radio is the more popular medium than any other medium. With the help
of FM Radio now they can promote their product in the remote place of Bangladesh. They
also promote their product by printing media which is newspaper, magazine, periodical etc.
they also have huge amount of billboard around the whole country. They also provide
different types of offers to promote their brand and product. These promotional activities help
Banglalink to create a good positioning in the mind of their target customer compare to other
competitors.
4 Banglalink ICON
Banglalink Icon is their most recent product. Actually this is not a new product; they call it a
customer service. To enjoy this service a customer has to use more than 3000 taka in a
month.. By Banglalink Icon, they are trying to create a distinctive customer perceived value
in the mind of their target customers. These customers became ICON of the organization.
Banlalink gives them more priority to the Icon customers. Banglalink uses two promotion
tools to give them better service and greater satisfaction from other competitors. First one is
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advertising specialties, also called promotional products, are useful articles imprinted with an
advertiser’s name, logo, or massage that are given as gifts to consumers. Typical items
include T-shirts and other apparel, pens, coffee mugs, calendars, key rings, mouse pads, tote
bags, coolers, golf balls, and caps. They also use patronage rewards, that are cash or other
awards offered for the regular use of Banlalink’s products and services.
5 Business Environment
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5.1.4 Buyers
Customers can be defined in two types one is they are the intermediate purchasers and
another one is they are the final consumers who consume the product or uses the service. For
Telecom Company like Banglalink we are the buyers who purchase and use their product.
Managers must ensure better customer service and understand what customers want and how
they want it.
5.1.5 Substitutes
Substitutes are companies who being in alternative products and services into the existing
market. Banglalink’s main substitutes are BTTB, ISPs, and VOIPs etc. Managers must ensure
that the industry does not have many substitutes.
5.2 The Macro Environment
Macro environment includes those fundamental factors and general elements that can affect
and influence all strategic decision making of an organization.
5.2.1 Law and Politics
Banglalink have to maintain some important laws of the country like The Telegraph Act of
1885, The Wireless Telegraph Act of 1933, The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
Ordinance 1979, The Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 1999, National Telecom Policy
1998 etc. Also, the government has imposed a higher rate of value added tax (VAT) on the
Telecom. So, Banglalink has more legal constraints than opportunities. They also have high
rate of income taxes on their net profit.
Politics affects Banglalink greatly. If there is a political instability around the country, there
will be fewer sales.
5.2.2 Economy
The economic variables such as inflation rates influence Banglalink. As we know inflation
rates increases prices of everything, so does the costs of Banglalink. The price of their
services though increases, but still their customers, who are loyal, do not shift to Banglalink’s
competitors.
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6 Management Functions
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7.2 Organizing
Structural consideration such as the chain of command, division of labor and assignment of
responsibility of Banglalink are set according to its Organogram, or it’s Organizational
Structure. The Organogram is given below
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Figure: Hierarchy of each Department
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7 Human Resource Management
Prerequisite:
b. N/A
Policy:
As per OTH HR policy
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Check references, arrange medical check (7 days)
HOD – HR:
viii. Approves the candidate
ix. Signs the offer for the selected candidate
Recruitment Manager:
20
C&B Manager:
21
Collected
Request for Dept. short lists the
CVs are
Resources is sent by CVs and sends the
short-listed
the department along Approved CVs to
and sent to
with Request Form HR
the Dept.
and Job Description
Department
Comply with Yes Vacancy is
submits Request
Approved HC posted on the Acquire Head of
Form & Job
Proactive approach
Yes
month
Sourcing CVs from
Rejected Suggest Offset Approval from
No external sources:-
Approved
Offer is made
Current candidate’s Yes Vacancy on the Offer is Approved candidates
according to Internal
salary is equal to or developed with are called for the Initial
current candidate’s less than minmum for same level or candidated
No C&B HR Interview
salary vacancy less
candidate
External
Yes
Positive Vacancy is
Accepted candidates’
Approved
Rejected
Negative
Selected
Candidates are Offered is developed as Yes
a % over the minimum Current Salary less
called to sign the according to current than vacancy’s
Contract employees’ minimum
experience
No
3 Days
2 Days
Notes:
*Total Time Required to complete the whole Recruitment Process is 17-24 Regret Letters are sent to
Selected Candidates Days. the rejected Candidates
formally Joins the *The time Required in the concerned department has not been considered.
Company *Each recruiter is solely responsible for fil ing the CVs progress Excel sheet
and for the sending the regret letters to the rejected candidates for each
assignment
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7.2 Training and Development Process
Brief:
First they provide a training form for the employees who think that they need any training
program or not. If yes, then they asked what type of training program they want to attend.
Then organization will decide who will provide the program and what will be the process of
that program. After that the head of that training program will brief the employees about the
program.
Purpose:
The purpose of this document is to provide the employee with the view about the training &
development process exercised in Banglalink. The objective of the process is to ensure a
regular and smooth interaction between HR and all departments stating training requirement
to HR. It complements the general guidelines given in the Training Policy which was
developed by the HR department and is available to everyone upon request. The process will
be applied for all training and development activities within Banglalink. In order to facilitate
understanding the HR Training Process is divided into two sub-processes are:
A. Training & Development Planning Process
B. Training Execution Process
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Prepare the Training Plan:
On the basis of agreed development need, HR will prepare training planHR will review the
department training plan with respective HOD and finalize the training plan. Based on this
training plan, HRproposes the budget.Both the budget as well as the training plan will be sent
for approval to the Head of HR.
Invitation:
HR invites the relevant participants along with all the admin information related to date,
venue etc.
Payment:
HR will issue the GRS to Finance dept. advising them to prepare the cheque for the training
cost. For overseas training, department Admin Assistant will coordinate with Finance &
Admin dept. to complete all the travel formalities.
Training undertaking:
For overseas training, HR completes all the formalities getting the training undertaking from
the participant as per policy.
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Attending at the training program:
The participants have to attend at the course timely and must take it seriously.They should
own this as an opportunity and takes full advantages from a training course.
b) Training Execution Process: First they provide the training registration through
official TR Form (Training Request Form). Then they give the invitation to the
employees. Then they brief payment system, Training undertaking, the Training
program, the system of getting the Training Feedback from participants and the last
one is getting Training feedback from Manager.
Head of Department: First he acknowledges the training plan. Then he selects training
programs (In house/Local/Abroad). And he discusses and plan for the functional program
Trainee: First a trainee has to Sign the training under-taking with HR Department. After
getting the confirmation from HR department he/she can able to attend the training program.
After the training program he/she has to write a report to his/her direct reporter about his/her
opinion on the training, benefits s/he achieved etc. on the form.
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Swim Lane Chart:
State Training
HR consolidate all data
Need through
and define departmental
official TNA form
training need by Nov.
HR
by Oct.
HR
A1 A2
A1 A2
NO
Department
Department
HR to consolidate
data from Annual Approval from Distribute to all line
Performance HOHR & CEO managers
Appraisal by Dec.
YES
A3
A3
A4 A5 A6 A7
A4 A5 A6 A7
Line
TimeLine
90 Days
Time
90 Days
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Training Execution Process
Registration: HR to
HR to invite the
prepare Training
HR
B1 B2
B1 B2 OVERSEAS
LOCAL
Department
Department
Finance
Advice Finance to
Finance
HR to send memo
complete
to Finance to
necessary
prepare Cheque
formalities
B3 B4
B3 B4
HR to follow up
Training and define next
HR
HR
undertaking from
participants
step
Department
Department
Line Manager to
Participants to
provide feedback on
Participants to provide training Line manager to
performance of the
attend the course feedback to direct send a copy to HR
employee after having
report
the training
B5 B6 B7
B5 B6 B7
Line
TimeLine
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Training Execution Process:
Participants to provide
training feedback to direct
report
Postpaid:
Banglalink SME
Banglalink business
Banglalink postpaid
PCO Call & Control
PCO Postpaid
Postpaid Internet
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9 Finance
In terms of revenue, Banglalink's performance has been impressive with total revenues of Tk.
11.83 billion at the end of 1st half of 2010. Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), the holding
company of Banglalink recently announced its financial results for the 1st half of 2010. In the
1st half of 2010, due to a withdrawal of SIM tax subsidy by the major operators, the overall
industry continued to experience a slowdown as connection prices were increased. Despite
the rise in prices, Banglalink's subscriber base increased steadily and reached 11.04 million at
the end of the 1st Half, which is a 17 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.
The market share of Banglalink also went up to 23.7 per cent in the 1st half of 2010, as
compared to 21.6 per cent during the same time last year. The average revenue per user has
also reported an increase of 18 per cent in quarter two compared to the same time last year
and an increase of 4 per cent compared to the previous quarter. All these positive
performances have been the outcomes of the revenue enhancement initiatives aimed at the
existing base. Commenting on the recent achievements, the Chairman of OTH, Mr. Naguib
Sawiris said, "Banglalink continues to grow very well with strong subscriber take up and
stable average revenue per user; it is now stably earnings before interest, tax, depreciation
and amoritization positive and has reached an impressive 40 per cent plus margin in Quarter
2.
10 Operations
SIM replacement
Transfer of ownership
Change of address
Itemized bill
Bill payment through credit card
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Package migration
10.2 VAS
To promote their brand Banglalink offers a huge variety of Value Added Services. These are:
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Banglalink Messenger SMS roaming
SMSadda (SMS Chat) Voice Portal
Picture Messages GPRS Service (Mobile Internet)
International SMS
SMS Banking Stock Info
Friendfinder Azan alert
Call Block
Upon registering to this service, a subscriber can receive calls in another Banglalink number.
charges: tk. 2 per SMS (excluding vat)
A subscriber can use this service to record voice message and then send the message to a
person using any operator.
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10.3.4 Call me back
This service enables all prepaid customers of Banglalink to send a maximum of 5 requests to
another Banglalink number (prepaid and postpaid) to call him/her back if he/she has low
credit balance. Only prepaid users having a balance of tk.0.15 to tk.1.00 will be able to send a
call back request. Charges: Tk. 0.15 for every request
This service, upon subscribing, will notify a user via SMS all the calls made to him/her when
his/her phone is unreachable or due to any of the reasons below:
New features
Monthly subscription service subscribers will enjoy the new features as default for no extra
cost:
Caller notification: whereby calling parties will receive a SMS saying that the called
party is available to receive calls when the called party is back into network.
Out of office notification: whereby the calling party will receive a SMS saying the
called party is not able to receive any call at that moment.
Bangalink post-paid and pre-paid users can use the conference call service to talk to more
than one person at once. Charges: normal airtime rate apply for each of the conference calls
separately.
Call waiting
After registering to call waiting a subscriber can receive a second call while he is already
talking to someone on the phone. The subscriber can hold, merge or switch to any of the two
calls.
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Banglalink internet
p1: pay as you go - the charge for this service is bdt 0.02/kb for prepaid users and bdt
0.015/kb for postpaid users and call & control users. (excluding vat)
p2: unlimited internet - the charge for this service is bdt 650/month (excluding vat).
p6: 1 gb - the charge for this service is bdt 275/month (excluding vat).
Product details
modems are available at Banglalink Dhaka and Chittagong customer care centers
additional refundable security deposit of tk. 750 has to be paid to avail this offer
Unlimited internet (p2) package will be provided with this offer. bills will be
postpaid as per regular p2 tariff, i.e. tk. 650
Banglalink internet modem is plug-n-play with one year warranty
Banglalink phonebackup
Banglalink phone backup is a service that safeguards all data of a mobile phone including
contacts, calendar & tasks, SMS, photos, videos and audio. the phone backup service copies
your mobile phone’s data in a secured manner to Banglalink’s phone backup system, and
also enables you to restore the saved data on your phone (new / existing) whenever you
change your phone or in case you lose the data accidentally.
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Major features of ntrack are
live tracking with street level mapping that will display address, speed and direction
of the vehicle
sms alerts for crossing speed limit, reaching pre-defined location, unauthorized route
etc.
remote security control and engine switching off to protect theft
web interface to track the vehicle throughout Bangladesh
fuel cost and mileage reports
arrival and departure reports
Dhaka metropolitan police (DMP) head quarter has a monitoring tool at their end for ntrack
with which they will be able to monitor any stolen car/vehicle if the device is installed in
that car.
Stock info
Banglalink stock info service is a mobile phone based application that allows Banglalink
subscribers to get live stock information of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange. This
application runs on java enabled handsets.
service features
Azan alert
Azan alert is java based software that can be downloaded by a wap-link push SMS and can be
used in any java enabled handset. This software will provide the following facilities:
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Azan alert can be localized according to the time-zone of 18 major cities of Bangladesh and
also has a daylight saving formula which can be used all year round.
Charges: the charge for this service will be tk.9 (excluding vat)
Banglalink emergency
In case of emergency situations, Banglalink customers will be able to dial *321*5# and sms
asking for help will be sent (containing the customer’s current location) to previously defined
emergency contact persons. The customer’s current location would be automatically included
in the SMS through Bangalink’s location based service.
Blood bank
"Blood bank 8008" is basically a call center based service whereby Banglalink subscribers will
be able to dial the short code 8008 and receive information/enquiries regarding the availability
of blood including the location of nearest blood bank, hospitals or individual donors, etc.
People who are interested to donate blood can also get information regarding donation
campaigns.
Healthlink
Through this service, Banglalink subscribers will now be able to get health counseling services
through third party (managed by synesis it) call center.
service features
Banglalink jigyasha
Krishi jigyasha 7676
Banglalink has introduced krishi jigyasha 7676 which will provide suggestions and answers to
any queries related to agriculture, vegetable and fruit farming, poultry, livestock, fisheries etc.
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Babsha jigyasha 7677 gives information on the following:
I'info
An SMS based subscription news service which provides current information on the following
categories:
Railway junction
This service will allow Banglalink prepaid and postpaid subscribers to check information on
the below features:
Destination wise train info - this will allow subscribers to know destination wise train
information along with the train number, name of the train and departure time.
Seat availability information - this will allow subscribers to know seat availability
information along with the train departure time.
Class wise ticket fare information - this will allow subscribers to know class wise train
ticket fare.
Train delay schedule - this will allow subscribers to know train schedule (if it is running
on delayed schedule).
Yellow pages
Banglalink yellow pages provide information on airlines, banks, hospitals, embassies,
restaurants, trains, travel offer, etc. by dialing 2727.
information highlights
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Useful link - important information like embassy address and contacts, money changer
and others.
SMS
By short messaging service Banglalink subscriber can receive information on the following
categories:
jokes
updated cricket score
detailed cricket score of a specific country
horoscope
emergency numbers
phone number of taxi cab control office by company name
weather report by city
International SMS
Banglalink subscribers can send and receive SMS to other operators in foreign countries. It
covers 172 countries, 644 operators in six continents.
Qur’an ivr
Through this service, Banglalink customers will be able to listen to any Surah from the holy
Quran with its tarjoma (Bengali translation).
Namaz alert
Upon subscription a user will receive SMS alerts before fajr, johr, asr, maghrib and esha
prayer times.
Banglalink partners with the Bangladesh post office (bpo) to launch electronic money order
(emo) service through the post office branches all across the country.
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Banglalink has launched mobile train ticket service in joint collaboration with cns limited
and Bangladesh railway.
Through this service, railway passengers now will be able to purchase their train ticket from
their own Banglalink mobile phone as well as from approximately 500 "Banglalink mobile
cash points" located at Dhaka and Chittagong.
Mobile bill-pay
By mobile bill pay service Banglalink subscribers of Mymensingh and Rangpur can pay
electricity bills from Banglalink mobile phone, at any time, 7 days a week or at the nearest
bill-pay point that has been authorized by Banglalink.
Mobile remittance
Beneficiaries with banglalink mobile connections will be able to open mobile wallet accounts
either at dhaka bank or eastern bank from selected banglalink mobile cash points by
submitting necessary identity documents and account opening forms. Mobile wallet account
holders can receive the remittance directly in their mobile wallet account. If the beneficiaries
do not have banglalink mobile connections, they can still receive the remittance by receiving
a secured and unique transaction reference number which is forwarded to them by the sender.
In that case, the beneficiaries will have to go to the designated banglalink mobile cash points
with proof of identification and request for the disbursement by submitting the transaction
reference number, the exact amount and the bank name.
Infrastructure Sharing
Optical fiber network
Nationwide Backbone
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Dhaka metro
Tariff
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Selling unit: e1 (30 channel)
*excluding vat
Note: stm-1 rent shall be calculated by giving a discount range up to 30% may be considered
depending on bulk, tenure of utilization, data/voice and type/category of the client and the
route of lease/sub-lease. this discount shall only be applicable in the same point-to-point
link.
Note: stm-4/8/16 rent shall be calculated by giving a discount range up to 30% may be
considered depending on bulk, tenure of utilization, data/voice and type/category of the client
and the route of lease/sub-lease. this discount shall only be applicable in the same point-to-
point link.
Special tariff
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) cases: in special cases like CSR, Banglalink
may provide special discounted pricing which are not to be treated as reference by any
other organization or lease
Cases of national interest: in cases of national interest, Banglalink may provide
special discounted pricing on case to case basis which are not to be treated as
reference by any other organization or lease
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11 Corporate Social Responsibilities
41
CSR activities and share the spirit with the Muslim community. In 2009, we provided free
phone service, free drinking water and free bus service from Hajj camp to the airport for the
Hajjis. We also provided the Hajj camp authority 50 trolleys. The activities were well
accepted by the community as well as the nation. This year, around 70,000 hajjis are expected
to avail the Hajj camp facilities. To continue with the good work, Banglalink is planning to
sponsor the following facilities in the Hajj camp premises which are going to be organized by
the Step Media Ltd.
Activities:
2 branded AC buses (40 seats) to 100 pcs Mid Island Branding (with
provide transportation to the Hajj wooden frame and solvent PVC) – (3ft
Pilgrims for 45 days. X 7ft).
Branding of the AC buses. 3 pcs Signboard Fascia Change.
3 branded water distribution zone (4ft 5,000 pcs Flag with stand.
X 6ft). 1 pc Main Gate at Airport Road to Hajj
Daily 3400 liters of drinking water in Camp (45 days).
the distribution zone for 45 days. 1 pc Gate at the Hajj Camp Venue - In
6 BPs for water distribution for 45 (45 days).
days. 1 pc Information booth.
1 Phone counters with ACP, Ply, and Backdrop/ Decoration/ Invitation Card
Wood etc (4ftX6ft). for Opening Program.
8,000 pcs Haji Kit bag. 6 pcs Long Festoons with slogans.
15,000 pcs Wrist Belt. 1 pc Citizen Charter board.
1 pc Hajj office ACP indicator. 100 pcs Waiting Chairs for Hajis.
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our continued endeavor to promote local culture and heritage. More than 2 lac spectators
from all segments of the society had gathered to enjoy the Banglalink 5th Khulna Boat Race
which was exciting & filled with intense competition. After the end of the race, the prize
giving ceremony was held. Prizes were distributed by Chief Guest, Mr.Talukdar Abdul
Khaleq, Honorable Mayor, Khulna City Corporation. Mr. Najrul Islam Monju, Honorable
MP, Mr. Md Babul Haque, Regional Commercial Head, Banglalink, Khulna, Mr.Md Moshiur
Rahman, Division Commissioner, Khulna, Commodore S Imran (ND) PSC, BN, Khulna
Shipyard Ltd, Mr. Jomsher Ahmed Khandker, DC, Khulna were also present among the
special guests. The event was presided by Mr. Maruf Rashid, President, Nagar Shamajik O
Sanskritik Kendra, and Khulna. The event proved to be a reunion for the mass people of
entire Khulna Division. A total of 10 boats participated in the competition. Each boat was
consisted of 70-75 rowers. The exciting boat race included three laps from no. 1 Rupsha
custom ferry ghat to Khan Jahan Ali Bridge. The beautiful long boats were colorfully
decorated and in diversified shapes that pierced through the wavy water of Rupsha River.
Association of Banglalink with this event this year has further reinforced our position in the
national cultural arena.
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Minister, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, Mrs. Sultana
Tarun, Honorable MP, Kushtia 4, Mr. Zunaid Ahmed, Honorable MP, Nator 3, Mr. Md
Abdul Mannan, DC, Kushtia, Mr. Md. Shahabuddin Khan BPM, Police Super, Kushtia, Dr.
Shamsujjaman Khan, Director, Bangla Academy, Dhaka, Dr. M Alauddin, Vice Chancellor,
Islamic University, Kushtia, Mr. Md. Taijal Ali Khan, Secretary, Lalon Academy, Mr.
Rashed Hasan, Assistant Manager, PR & Communication, Banglalink were also present as
special guests. Lalon Mela is a common platform where mass people from all age, race
religion and income level participate. Not only the participants from the region attended but
also devotees from the entire country & foreign nations were there. Association of Banglalink
with this event this year has further reinforced our position in the national cultural arena.
GrameenPhone had become a leader, a star, in the market soon after it entered the industry.
While it took the company nearly five years from its start in 1997 to build a subscriber base
of 500,000 the company has been growing fast since then. While Robi has been in the market
as long as GrameenPhone has, it had failed to take the aggressive growth strategies that GP
had used from the beginning, such as heavy promotion to build brand loyalty. It grew quite
slowly and tried to improve their technology and network slowly without creating too much
hype. However, Robi has stepped up its promotional activities and is fast gathering more and
more market share. Hence, with an impressive growth rate of nearly 200%, this question
mark may become a star not too far in the future. Banglalink was as good as dead, and thus,
a dog (even in a high growth market) while it operated under the brand name Sheba.
However, with the change in ownership, it is giving the star and the second operator of the
country a run for its money. While it may seem too ambitious saying that it would overtake
the leader anytime soon, it is certainly a possibility. Considering the fact that it is setting up
BTS towers at a rate faster than its competitors and thus trying to repair its image as the worst
network provider, plans to have all 61 districts covered by the end of the year, which took
others years to build, it shows their aggressive stance in acquiring market share. The growth
in subscriber base certainly reflects this aggressive positioning. It took Banglalink merely 4
months to build a subscriber base of 400,000, while it took nearly five years for its largest
competitor to build a subscriber base of 500,000. Hence, while both Robi and Banglalink are
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still question marks in the model they are both giving the star of the market a hard time, and
may soon displace it, if it does not do something soon about its packages. It is difficult to map
CityCell using the BCG matrix, mostly because it has a very low relative market share and a
very poor growth rate in an industry with impressive growth rate and hence falls in the under-
developed category. This may, however, be explained away with the fact that CityCell
operates through the use of CDMA technology while the rest of the market is following the
GSM technology, with GrameenPhone having just moved into GPRS & EDGE recently.
However, with the purchase of PBTL by SingTel for an amount of nearly $60 million,
CityCell may be in for some expansion and show signs of change in the years to come. With
only 250,000 subscribers, Teletalk has a relative market share that falls below 0.1 and hence
does not fall into any of the quadrants. Moreover, while the growth rate of Teletalk indicates
that it may overtake CityCell soon, with the litigation, it is under, and expansion plans of
CityCell, it is still in question.
Market
Growth Rate
Relative
Market share
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13 SWOT Analysis
4.1 Strengths
Huge capital investment: As mentioned earlier, Orascom Telecom has great plans for
Banglalink. Wherever OTH has gone, it has become the industry leader there or is on its way
there. A possible explanation is that the organization kicks of its companies with a huge
capital outlay to help get rid of or solve all the hitches.
Expertise: As mentioned earlier, OTH had over 1000 people, including 15 experts, working
on the infrastructure to get the company started in a record four months. These experts, with
several years of experience in the telecom industry, now help in the day-to-day operation of
the business.
Tight control over sales process: Many people in the industry do not know the sales
process, since it is dealt by their distributors and dealers. However, with the Direct Sales
Booth, the people involved know the sales process intimately and are responsible for
achieving the sales target and project implementation, thus giving the company a strong
control over the process.
4.2 Weaknesses
Network: The greatest weakness of Banglalink and also the most widely criticized service is
its network. While the reception is quite clear when the user is out of doors, once inside, the
reception breaks up.
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The worst part is the company has entered a market where the industry leader has been
reigning supreme for years now and people are bound to compare the leader’s services with
Banglalink’s performance, even if it is fairly new to the market. People tend to forget that it
had taken the leader more than three years since its start to provide its subscribers with a
decent connection; hence it is with Grameen’s present performance that Banglalink is
compared and sure enough the latter does not fare well.
Unorganized structure: OTH bought off Sheba (Pvt.) Limited September 2004 and
immediately started changing the structure of the loosing concern. They are constantly
recruiting people, adding/deleting levels to the organ gram. Thus, the environment is
constantly chaotic, with many people not knowing who to contact or whom to report to and
who is responsible for what. This takes away time and energy away from the selling
activities.
Inadequate human resources: While many people drop off their CVs at the office on a
regular basis, finding sufficient numbers of people, with the correct qualifications, has
become hard to find. Hence, a handful of people are doing the work of many leading to back
log of work.
Bureaucracy: The new management is trying to create a system where each individual is
responsible and accountable for his duties. While it is a good idea, it has also created a
bottleneck at the administrative & financial level, where work gets stuck and stays stuck until
all papers are properly signed and taken care of.
4.3 Opportunities
Re-invent itself: As mentioned earlier, the company created a strong buzz when it entered
the market. Previously an unknown entity, many people now know of the existence of
Orascom Telecom. They have done their studies and know that OTH stands for success.
Thus, the people are ready to see Banglalink as a total different entity from its predecessor
and are willing to give it another chance to re-invent its image in the market; not an issue to
be taken lightly by the company
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4.4 Threats
Price wars: While in the true sense it had been Banglalink who started this price war with its
M2M package, it has created a series of price cuts that many cannot afford. After eight years
of high call charges, Grameen Phone has finally decreased its rates.
BTTB has also entered this battle with Teletalk Bangladesh Limited. With free T&T
incoming and outgoing, this is sure to become popular once it gains access to other operators’
networks.
Tax: The country's mobile telecom operators said tax on SIM and mobile handsets in the
proposed national budget is the biggest barrier to the telecom sector growth and demanded
withdrawal of those to materialize the government's dream to establish digital Bangladesh.
14 Recommendation
Banglalink is company with some substantial internal strength and some weaknesses as well.
However, their weaknesses are nothing that cannot be turned into strengths.
For the last half of a decade they have been the cost leaders of Bangladesh’s mobile phone
market. But recently, after the arrival of Warid, they are facing the threat of losing their title
of market cost leaders.
They already have control over a good share of the market. If the coupled that with a network
coverage rivaling that of Grameen Phone’s they will be able to get a much more significant
portion of the market. Hence, we believe, an Aggressive Strategy should be implemented
where they invest to improve their network coverage and therefore really give GP a run for
their money.
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