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Mobile market downbeat

17 May 2009, 18:00 PM

NATIONAL

Star Business Report

A mere 0.75 million new customers were connected to the six mobile operators' network in April, demonstrating a continuous slowdown in the industry. Despite the sluggish trend, state-run TeleTalk performed better among all the operators, adding the highest number of customers in April. The company added 0.44 million customers to its network in April 2009, thanks to its reduced call rate of Tk 0.66 per minute to any operator. The total number of mobile phone customers reached 46.50 million in April 2009, which was 45.75 million in March when 0.54 million customers joined the mobile network. In April 2008, the mobile operators added 1.41 million customers, which was 52 percent higher than in April 2009. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the market's largest operator Grameenphone (GP) lost 0.03 million customers in April. GP's customer base fell from 21.05 million in March 2009 to 21.02 million in April. "The telecom market is shrinking. High taxation is the main reason behind such growth," said Oddvar Hesjedal, GP's chief executive officer, in a recent press meet. "If the Tk 800 tax on SIM (subscriber identity module) is scrapped in the upcoming budget, we believe the industry will return to its usual growth," observed the GP CEO.