The pandemic, it seems, has not been too brutal on Banglalink, once the country’s most-spirited operator but has since fallen behind in the competition.
Banglalink’s parent company, the Amsterdam-based VEON, does not disclose the profit figures in its financial report; only the revenue earned is shared.
Between April and September, the industry’s number three carrier logged in Tk2,260 crore in revenue, according to its parent company VEON. A year earlier, it was Tk2,290 crore, meaning the revenue slipped just 1.3%.
In contrast, Grameenphone, the market leader, saw its revenue shrivel 5.4% during the period. The country’s number two carrier, Robi, is yet to unveil its third quarter earnings.
Banglalink’s mobile data revenue soared 25.9% to Tk579 crore between April and September as people shifted their activities online to avert catching the virus and its investment in building up 4G capacity came to good use.
Its 2.1 crore mobile data subscribers consumed 2,326 MB on an average between July and September, an increase of 52.7% from a year earlier.
Erik Aas, the carrier’s chief executive officer, found the performance “quite satisfactory” given the operational challenges faced at that time due to the pandemic, flood, rough weather and so on.
“Despite the hurdles, we registered an impressive data revenue growth,” he said.
However, the operator shed about 800,000 subscribers during the period. As of September, Banglalink has 330 million subscribers.
Its average earnings per user stood at Tk116 in the third quarter, up from Tk 113a year earlier.
With economic activities resuming across the country, Aas is hopeful of better days ahead.