Bangladesh Prepares for 5G Launches

Sydney, Feb. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communication’s focus report on Bangladesh outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Bangladesh-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Bangladesh ranks among the most densely populated countries globally. However, economic constraints over the last few decades has resulted in under-investment in network infrastructure, with the result that the country has an under-developed fixed-line market, with the fixed-line penetration rate being the lowest in South Asia.

Related to the poor fixed-line infrastructure is the very low fixed broadband penetration rate, a situation compounded by the preference among consumers to adopt mobile broadband solutions for their data needs. To address these shortcomings the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the revival of the NGN modernisation project to be undertaken by Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL). In the years to 2024 steady growth is expected to arise from these efforts.

Bangladesh’s mobile market is also relatively under-developed, though it has experienced strong growth over the last six years. Operators have trialled 5G and the BTRC is expected to auction spectrum for 5G services before the end of 2020, aiming to provide national 5G coverage by 2026.

Slow to moderate mobile subscriber growth is predicted in coming years, with constraints to stronger growth coming from intense local competition and from additional taxes in the national budget which are expected to dampen consumer use of services.

Bangladesh has also seen a very rapid increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past five years, though it remains well below most other Asian countries. Growth is being driven by a rising number of mobile subscribers able to access faster download speeds on LTE networks. An unprecedented level of investment among telcos during 2018 and 2019 extended the footprint of LTE infrastructure and laid the groundwork for operators to launch 5G services from 2021.

Key Developments:

• The mobile market has seen significant market consolidation over the past few years.
• The first test run of 5G technology in Bangladesh took place in Dhaka.
• The BTRC issued a directive on allowing IoT for smart buildings and automation industries.
• Overall fixed line penetration dropped slightly from 2013 to 2018.
• Strong growth is of mobile broadband subscribers is predicted over the next five years.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL); Grameenphone; CityCell (PBTL); Banglalink; Robi; Teletalk; Airtel Bangladesh; Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL).

Table of Contents

• Key Statistics
• Regional Asian Market Comparison
• Country overview
• Telecommunications Market
  • Market overview
  • Background
• Regulatory environment
  • Regulatory authorities
    • Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
    • Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications & Information Technology
  • Fixed-line developments
    • 2001 Telecommunications Act
    • 2006 Information and Communication Technology Act
    • 2010 Telecommunication (Amendment) Act
    • 2012 Competition Act
    • Expanded Licensing Regime
    • Infrastructure Sharing
    • Directives on Service and Tariffs 2015
    • Unified mobile operator licence
  • Mobile network developments
    • Surcharge on mobile usage
    • 2019 budget proposal for the telecom sector
    • SIM registration
    • Spectrum
    • Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
    • Licensing
• Mobile market
  • Mobile statistics
  • Mobile broadband
  • Mobile infrastructure
    • 5G
    • 4G
    • 3G
  • Major mobile operators
    • Grameenphone
    • Banglalink
    • Robi
    • Teletalk
    • Historic – CityCell
• Fixed-line broadband market
  • Background
  • Broadband statistics
  • Fixed broadband service providers
    • Overview
  • Fixed-line broadband technologies
    • Fibre-To-The-Premises (FttP)
    • Fixed-wireless
    • WiMAX and fixed-wireless broadband rollouts
    • Wi-Fi
• Fixed network operators
• Telecommunications infrastructure
  • Overview of the national telecom network
  • Fibre networks
  • Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
  • National Internet Exchange (NIX) Licenses
  • Grameen Telecom’s Village Project
  • International infrastructure
    • Satellite
    • Submarine
    • International gateways
  • Smart infrastructure
    • IoT (Internet of Things)
• Digital Economy
  • Digital Bangladesh – 2021
  • e-Payments
  • e-Commerce
  • m-Commerce
• Appendix – Historic data
• Related reports

List of Tables

• Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – 2019 (e)
• Table 2 – Key Metrics – Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in services – 2019 – 2024
• Table 3 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
• Table 4 – Growth in mobile market revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Table 5 – Growth in investment (CAPEX) by mobile operators – 2013 – 2018
• Table 6 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
• Table 7 – Percentage of the population covered by mobile infrastructure by technology – 2019 (e)
• Table 8 – Mobile subscriber market share by operator – 2019
• Table 9 – Mobile operators by system
• Table 10 – Growth in the number of Grameenphone’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Table 11 – Development of Grameenphone’s mobile service revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Table 12 – Development of Grameenphone’s blended mobile ARPU – 2013 –2019
• Table 13 – Development of Grameenphone’s capex (excluding license fees) – 2013 – 2019
• Table 14 – Change in the number of Banglalink’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Table 15 – Development of Banglalink’s mobile revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Table 16 – Development in Banglalink’s capex – 2015 – 2019
• Table 17 – Growth in the number of Robi’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Table 18 – Development of Robi’s revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Table 19 – Change in Robi’s blended ARPU – 2013 – 2019
• Table 20 – Development of Robi’s capex – 2013 – 2019
• Table 21 – Change in the number of Teletalk’s mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2019
• Table 22 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2024
• Table 23 – Decline in the number of WiMAX subscribers – 2012 – 2019
• Table 24 – Change in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2009 – 2024
• Table 25 – Growth in the number of Village Phones – 1998; 2003; 2005 – 2016; 2019
• Table 26 – Growth in international internet bandwidth – 2007 – 2018
• Table 27 – Lit/Equipped international bandwidth capacity – 2015 – 2019
• Table 28 – Historic – Mobile subscribers – 1996 – 2005
• Table 29 – Historic – Grameenphone mobile subscribers – 1998 – 2009
• Table 30 – Historic – Banglalink mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2009
• Table 31 – Historic – Robi Axiata mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2009
• Table 32 – Historic – Airtel Bangladesh subscribers – 2007 – 2017
• Table 33 – Historic – CityCell mobile subscribers – 1999 – 2015
• Table 34 – Historic Total international internet bandwidth – 1998 – 2006
• Table 35 – Historic – FttP broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2016
• Table 36 – Historic – Fixed-line subscribers by operator – 2010 – 2011; 2013 – 2015
• Table 37 – Historic – BTCL fixed-line subscribers – 2010 – 2016
• Table 38 – Historic – fixed-line subscribers and penetration – 1995 – 2008
• Table 39 – Historic – Bangladesh optical fibre network – 2016

List of Charts

• Chart 1 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index by Market Category
• Chart 2 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
• Chart 3 –Telecoms Maturity Index – Central Asia
• Chart 4 – Mobile, mobile broadband and fixed broadband penetration – 2019; 2024
• Chart 5 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
• Chart 6 – Growth in mobile market revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 7 – Growth in telecom market revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 8 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
• Chart 9 – Growth in the number of Grameenphone’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Chart 10 – Development of Grameenphone’s mobile service revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 11 – Development of Grameenphone’s blended mobile ARPU – 2013 –2019
• Chart 12 – Development of Grameenphone’s capex (excluding license fees) – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 13 – Change in the number of Banglalink’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Chart 14 – Development of Banglalink’s mobile revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 15 – Development in Banglalink’s capex – 2015 – 2019
• Chart 16 – Growth in the number of Robi’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
• Chart 17 – Development of Robi’s mobile revenue – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 18 – Change in Robi’s blended ARPU – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 19 – Development of Robi’s capex – 2013 – 2019
• Chart 20 – Change in the number of Teletalk’s mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2019
• Chart 21 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2024
• Chart 22 – Decline in the number of WiMAX subscribers – 2012 – 2019
• Chart 23 – Change in the number of fixed lines and penetration – 2009 – 2024

List of Exhibits

• Exhibit 1 – Key Market Characteristics by Market Segment
• Exhibit 2 – Central Asia -Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country
• Exhibit 3 – Mobile operators in Bangladesh
• Exhibit 4 – Licensed wireless broadband access (WBA) operators in Bangladesh

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Bangladesh-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Nicolas Bombourg
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