The telecom industry of the country witnessed lots of uncertainties which might affect long term investment in the sector, said Mehboob Chowdhury, chief executive officer (CEO) of Citycell.
He said the industry needs a farsighted telecom roadmap that should have a forecast for at least 10 to 15 years - from business perspective it is a must.
In an interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Chowdhury said: “The telecom sector found no roadmap yet, even the national telecom policy that introduced 16 years ago, may not suit with the present perspective. It deserves immediate revision.”
Citycell is the oldest mobile phone operator not only in the country but also in South-East Asia, and Mehboob Chowdhury is the first native CEO of the operator as he joined on March 1, 2010.
He said: “Lots of works have done in the mean time in a scattered way. Now we need to collect all of it and need a collective planning what we want to achieve in next couple of years and where we want to go in-terms of service level.”
And for it, the government and the regulator also need to chalk out a combined roadmap with the assistance of the industry, especially with the telecom operators, said Mehboob Chowdhury, also a former chairman of South Asia Mobile Forum (SAMF).
He, also acted as the first chairman of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), said voice call will die within few years from mobile phone services. So, policy and roadmap should address the issues.
“Ten years ago, we predicted that data will dominate the market and now we can forecast that within five to ten years, voice will die from mobile network in our country also.”
And, it has happening in some other countries around the globe already where data is the main source of revenue for the operators. Somewhere voice is being offered free with data pack, he added.
“That day is not so far when people can avail every service free with data service, even in Bangladesh.”
But third generation (3G) mobile service, that was launched in the country within the private operators six months ago, could not satisfy Mehboob Chowdhury.
“As a data focused mobile operator like Citycell, which can’t offer 3G service; we are not comfortable from business perspective, but it is also true that 3G service not running as expected.”
After launching 3G service, Citycell went back-gear but currently it geared up again in terms of revenue and subscribers, the Citycell boss informed.
Sharing his operator’s plan, Mehboob Chowdhury said they have a plan for 3G, but it needs huge investment. So, they had to rethink about it.
“As we have EV-DO service, which is also equivalent to 3G, since last couple of years and we think we will go for 4G. This is how Citycell can save extra investment.”
EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimised or Evolution-Data only), which is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals.
“We will apply for 4G (fourth generation) service next couple of months after buying additional spectrum from 1800 bands for voice, in the mean time 4G device price will come down. The price is now very high for our customers.”
Citycell, the only CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile operator in the country also has a plan to convert their technology to GSM, which would allow them to offer their customers more handsets.
Except Citycell, five other mobile operators in the country using GSM (Global System for Mobile) technology that allows their subscribers the freedom to change handsets frequently.
Currently, Citycell has some revenue and spectrum dispute with the regulator and it would be solved within next six months, Mehboob Chowdhury expected.
“After that more investment will come in to Citycell and we can buy 5 megahertz spectrum from 1800 band for flourish our voice business.”
Currently, global brand SingTel (Singapore Telecommunications Limited) has 45% share in Citycell and there is a perception in the industry that SingTel would acquire majority stakes of Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (PBTL) and increase their shares up to 60%.
Mehboob Chowdhury said: “It will not happen as SingTel has another partner in this market. So we are not thinking about it, but we are searching more investments.”
Asked about merger and acquisitions, he replied: “There is huge chance from Citycell point of view, if we found lucrative offers from the market we’ll never obsolete this probability.”
At the same time, Mehboob Chowdhury said, the industry might witness mergers, acquisitions and liquidation in the near future, it is a very big challenge for six mobile operators to co-exist in this small market under the current situation.
