Airtel Bangladesh
IndustryTelecommunication
PredecessorWarid Telecom Bangladesh
Bharti Airtel Bangladesh Ltd
Founded10 May 2007 (2007-05-10)
Defunct6 January 2016 (2016-01-06)
FateMerged into Robi Axiata Limited
SuccessorRobi Axiata Limited
Headquarters
Dhaka
,
Bangladesh
Area served
Bangladesh
ProductsMobile Telephony
Internet Services
ParentAxiata (68.7%)
Bharti Enterprises (31.3%)
WebsiteAirtel Bangladesh

Airtel (Bengali: এয়ারটেল) is a telecom brand currently managed by Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh & was managed by Bharti Airtel (Airtel Bangladesh Ltd) until November 2016. In November 2016, Airtel merged its operations into Robi Axiata Ltd. Following the merger, Airtel remained as a product brand of Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh. Since then, Robi Axiata is the brand licensing holder for Airtel brand in Bangladesh.

History

In December 2005, Warid Telecom International LLC, an Abu Dhabi based consortium, paid US$50 million to obtain a GSM license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). In doing so, Warid Telecom became the sixth mobile phone operator in Bangladesh.

Takeover by Bharti Airtel

In 2010, Warid Telecom sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's Bharti Airtel for US$300 million. Bharti's proposal also included an initial $300 million investment in Warid to create new shares in the company.[1][2] The BTRC approved the deal on 4 Jan 2010.[3] Bharti Airtel Limited took control of the company and its board and re-branded the company's services under its 'Airtel' brand starting on 20 December 2010.

In March 2013, Warid Telecom sold its remaining 30% share to Bharti Airtel's Singapore-based concern Bharti Airtel Holdings Pte Limited for US$85 million.[4][5][6]

On 8 September 2013, Airtel Bangladesh licensed 5 MHz of the 3G spectrum for US$1.25 million.

Merger with Robi Axiata

In January 2016, Robi and Airtel Bangladesh announced that they intended to merge their Bangladesh operations. The combined entity, called Robi, would serve about 32 million subscribers. Axiata Group was to own 68.7% of the shares, Bharti Enterprises was to own 25.0%, while the remaining 6.3% would be owned by NTT DoCoMo.[7][8] The merger was completed in November 2016.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bharti bags Bangladesh's Warid for bargain price of Rs 45 lakh". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Krishna, R. Jai; Sahu, Prasanta (12 January 2010). "Bharti Airtel to Buy Warid Telecom for $300 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Ahmed, Rumman (5 January 2010). "Bharti Airtel to Invest $300 Million in Warid Telecom". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Bharti Buys out airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Robi-Airtel merger defers again". The Daily Star. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Airtel spends $80 million for additional 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Ittefaq. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "Axiata and Bharti Airtel Agree to Merge Operations in Bangladesh". Axiata. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Malaysia's Axiata and India's Bharti to merge subsidiaries". Reuters. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Robi, Airtel complete merger". The Daily Star. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
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