After merger Robi can sell Airtel's number for two years

Robi-Airtel will be able to sell any of Airtel's 016 coded number two years after the official date of merger. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has imposed the mandatory condition to Robi. According Robi-Airtel merger proposal, the merged company Robi will have to abide by 13 conditions. Robi and Airtel signed a merger agreement on January 28, this year. As per the deal, the joint venture will be operated under the brand name of “Robi”. Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has recently approved the merger proposal of mobile phone operators – Robi and Airtel, paving the way for first such initiative in Bangladesh. On July 24, the telecom division forwarded the summary of the merger proposal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her consent as she is also the minister of posts and telecommunications. Before sending it to the PMO, the regulatory body included 13 conditions which restrict the merged entity not to sell any 016 coded numbers two years after the date of merger. After the expiry of the two years period, 016 users will be converted to 018. However, if the BTRC allows more time after the expiry of the two years of the period, the merged company would be able to continue this coded number. According to conditions, the merged entity will have to ensure Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) lawfully, no one would be sacked without acknowledgement of the regulator and Robi won’t be able to change tariff plan of Airtel for two years after the merger. At the end of last year, Robi-Airtel applied to BTRC to merge into a single entity in Bangladesh. As the decision is now pending at the High Court, anyone of Robi is not interested to make any comment on the merger issue. On condition of anonymity, an official of Robi, however, told the Dhaka Tribune that Mobile Number Portability will be introduced by this time. “So, 016 coded numbers will not be a big issue for us.” “We have accepted all the conditions and will take further steps accordingly,” said the official. “After the merger, the merged company cannot sell any 016 coded number for more than 2 years starting from the date of merger. After the expiry of the 2 years period, 016 users will be converted to 018. However, BTRC has the discretion to extend to 2 years period” said barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain. After the merger, Robi will have to pay Tk507 crore as spectrum fee and Tk100 crore as merger fee. As of June this year, Robi had around 27.5m subscribers and Airtel had nearly 10m subscribers, according to the BTRC. After the merger, the company will be named as Robi and will have the second largest subscriber-base in the country. Apart from the merger fee, the telecom division has also fixed Tk33.8 crore per megahertz as 2G spectrum fee, the official said. An inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Finance Minister AMA Muhith finalised the merger fee and spectrum prices on July 13. Upon completion of the merger process, Robi Axiata Ltd, Robi’s parent company, will hold 68.3% controlling stake in the combined entity while Airtel’s parent company Bharti Airtel will have 25% stake. The remaining 6.7% stake will be held by the existing shareholder, NTT Docomo of Japan.