Outgoing managing director and chief executive officer of mobile operator Robi, Michael Kuehner said voice market of Bangladesh becoming stagnant while the data market is booming.
“Voice revenue is flattening out whereas the data market growth is really very fast in Bangladesh,” he said while speaking at a meet with the country’s telecom reporters in Dhaka yesterday.
“Currently data growth is really fast in the country, and we are optimistic about it.”
Michael Kuehner is also chairman of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB). The members of Telecom Reporters’ Network Bangladesh (TRNB) meet him in his office.
The outgoing Robi MD has worked in Bangladesh for last four and a half years in the post. He is going into retirement this month.
“Though there are lots of problem in politics and other areas, people of this country must be saluted for their resilience. The country continues to achieve 6% GDP growth despite the problems,” said sexagenarian Michael Kuehner, a German nationale.
While referring to the country’s telecom sector, he said the market is highly taxed although the revenue generation is low.
“Such kind of situation was a challenging me.”
“But my focus was not on revenue, though important, I concentrated on the culture (of Bangladesh),” added Robi’s CEO.
According to data, Robi under Michael Kuehner’s leadership has become the second largest mobile phone operator in the country in terms of revenue and started making profit. He changed the operator’s name from Aktel to Robi.
Executive Vice President of Robi Mahmudur Rahman and TRNB president Abdullah Mamun, among others were also present.