Airtel ( bn, এয়ারটেল) is a
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
i
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
company. It was managed by
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
Bangladesh until 2016, when Bharti Airtel Bangladesh merged its operations into
Robi Axiata Ltd. Following the merger, Airtel Bangladesh remained as a product brand of Robi Axiata. Since then, Robi Axiata is the brand licensing holder for
Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...
in Bangladesh.
History
In December 2005,
Warid Telecom International LLC, an
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
based
consortium
A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
, paid US$50 million to obtain a
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
license from the
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). In doing so, Warid Telecom became the sixth mobile phone operator in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
Takeover by Bharti Airtel
In 2010,
Warid Telecom
Warid Telecom International ( ar, وارد تليكوم الدولية) was an Emirati telecommunications company which was active in Bangladesh, Georgia, Congo, Pakistan, and Uganda before its divestment.
Pakistan
In 2004, Warid Telecom Inter ...
sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
for US$300 million. Bharti's proposal also included an initial $300-million investment in Warid for creating new shares in the company.
The BTRC approved the deal on 4 Jan 2010.
Bharti Airtel Limited took control of the company and its board, and re-branded the company's services under its 'Airtel' brand starting on 20 December 2010.
In March, 2013, Warid Telecom sold its remaining 30% share to Bharti Airtel's Singapore-based concern Bharti Airtel Holdings Pte Limited for US$85 million.
On 8 September 2013, Airtel Bangladesh licensed 5 MHz of the 3G spectrum for US$1.25 million.
Merger
In January 2016, Robi and Airtel Bangladesh announced that they intended to merge their Bangladesh operations. The combined entity, called Robi, would serve about 32 million subscribers.
Axiata Group
Axiata Group Berhad, commonly known as Axiata, formerly known as TM International Berhad, is a Malaysian multinational telecommunications conglomerate with extensive operations in Asia.
The group
Axiata's primary business is in investment h ...
was to own 68.7% of the shares,
Bharti Group
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, hos ...
was to own 25.0%, while the remaining 6.3% would be owned by
NTT DoCoMo. The merger was completed in November 2016.
See also
*
Airtel Africa
Airtel Africa plc, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is a multinational company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East, Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa is majority owned by ...
*
Airtel India
Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of ...
*
Airtel Sri Lanka
Airtel ( si, එයාටෙල්, ta, ஏர்டெல்) is the brand name of mobile network operator, Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of Indian multinational telecommunications company Bharti Airtel. The compan ...
References
{{Bharti Enterprises
Mobile phone companies of Bangladesh
Bangladeshi subsidiaries of foreign companies
Bharti Airtel