News Title : Telcos subscriber growth hits 16-month low

News Date : 2015-10-23

-Star Business Report
The telecom industry added 5.93 lakh active SIMs in September, the lowest in 16 months. The government's move against fake mobile connections and illegal calls may have slowed subscriber growth, industry insiders said. Bangladesh had 13.14 crore active connections as of September, up from 13.08 crore in August, Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Commission said in a report published on Wednesday. The industry had added 14.7 lakh connections a month on average from January to August, according to data from the telecom regulator. In August, 20.74 lakh new connections have been added, while it was 19.03 in July. Tarana Halim started a massive campaign against fake connections in August after taking the reins of the Telecom Division as state minister in July. Her call to the deputy commissioners of 64 districts to run mobile courts against unregistered SIMs has also affected sales, industry insiders said. “The number is not unexpected. The BTRC's October report will show a disastrous result,” said a senior executive of a mobile phone operator requesting not to be named. Roadside shops were not seen selling SIM cards in the last two months; even some authorished retailers stopped selling SIM cards, he also said. ADVERTISEMENT In September, Banglalink lost 2.64 lakh customers while Airtel added 3.25 lakh new subscribers, according to the BTRC report. Grameenphone, Robi and Teletalk have seen slight growth where Citycell continued losing subscribers. In September, Bangladesh saw around 18.39 lakh new internet connections. The country has 5.41 crore internet connections, of whom 5.2 crore use the mobile internet.

Source