NATION BUSINESS REPORT
Grameenphone’s revenue went up by 13 per cent to about Tk 6,100 crore in 2008 compared to 2007.
At the end of 2008, the number of subscriptions reported about 2.1 crore with a subscription market share of 47 per cent. In 2008, the number of subscriptions increased by 45 lakhs.
“While it continues to grow, our subscriber growth is effected by the existing high SIM tax, which limits affordability for customers with limited incomes,” said Grameenphone CEO, Oddvar Hesjedal. “Nonetheless, we have consolidated our position in the market and closed the year on a positive curve,” he added.
Accordingly, Grameenphone’s net add in the fourth quarter was 164,000 compared to 521,000 of third quarter. At the same time, the company continued its sincere effort to ensure compliant sales as per Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) subscription registration directive.
The total revenue of 2008 increased by 13 percent compared to 2007 mainly due to good contribution from customers, revenues from international gateway (IGW) and interconnect revenues from Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL).
EBITDA margin in 2008 increased to 46.4 per cent compared to 45.9 per cent of last year mainly due to higher revenue.
Grameenphone has invested over BDT 2,700 crore in 2008, which includes Tk 592 crore investments on acquiring additional 7.4 MHz GSM frequency on 1800 band in the fourth quarter. This brings Grameenphone’s accumulated investment to about Tk 14,000 crore since inception to date.
Grameenphone has paid Bangladesh government Tk 3,172 crore in 2008 on account of direct tax, VAT and duties and through BTRC. In addition, Grameenphone paid Tk 335 crore through commercial agreements with Bangladesh Railway (BR) and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL).
GP submitted its IPO application to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 11th December 2008 and subsequently made its final submission of prospectus incorporating SEC’s feedback on 28th January 2009.
The Grameenphone network presently covers almost the entire population with more than 11,800 base stations located in over 6,800 sites in operation around the country. The network is also fully EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing the customers to access high-speed internet from anywhere within its coverage area.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
