Banglalink, country’s third largest telecom operator, has announced a host of plans for its business in Bangladesh. Jean-Yves Charlier, chief executive of VimpelCom, the parent company of Banglalink, discussed the operator’s future plans at a press meet at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday:
- The operator plans to invest more than $100 million into network expansion and improvement
- Banglalink is interested in offering financial services through mobile phones if the regulator allows, the company sees great opportunity in the space and thinks that mobile operators are best suited to offer a better service.
- The operator plans to launch its own messaging service VEON this year
- The company plans to launch a platform where users would be able to buy products through their mobile balance
- Banglalink plans to get into ecommerce by this year. That said, the company already has an e-shop that largely offers mobile handsets and the likes
- It also plans to offer reasonably priced and affordable smartphones in partnership with major handset companies.
Banglalink came into being after a rebranding of Orascom in 2005. The company now has 29.98 million subscribers in the country. The company saw around 4% YoY growth with $469 million in gross revenue in the first nine months of 2016.
