Chapter-1

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

17 May marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph
Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. Since 1973,
the occasion has been recognized as World Telecommunication Day. So the significance
is clear here that Telecommunication Sector has a particular acknowledgement in the
world and the result is the creation of World Telecommunication Day. In fact,
Telecommunication is one of the talks of the world at present.
Tele density of Bangladesh is still the lowest in South Asia, according to the statistics of
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). About 1.56% among 100 people has
access to telecom facility. It shows the high potential in the telecommunication sector in
Bangladesh. The existing telecommunication companies operating in Bangladesh have
been enjoying competitive advantage because of less global competition but this scenario
is soon to be changed as global giants are focusing on Bangladeshi markets with
differentiated service and competitive advantages.
With the advancement of science and technology, we wonder regularly. Today’s world is
the world of technology. No doubt of it that the most success sector is
telecommunication. It can be said that last few days ago people can not even imagine
about the today’s communication ways. And it is also true that people have become more
desperate to think about new things in this sector. In this course of action, mobile, voice
call service, SMS, video telephony, teleconference, video conference etc. along with
other communicating ways, have emerged. So, the best news from the business point of
view is the creation of the telecommunication market. Its size is beyond of imagination
that there are 750 GSM operators doing business throughout the world. The picture of
Bangladesh helps to realize the matter more clearly that we have six operators even in
this small country. And out of 14 corer population, almost 2 corers are using this service.
Millions of dollars have already been invested in this sector and also are being invested.

1
Technology was not only transforming the character of the telecommunications industry
from within, but more significantly, much more significantly in my view, is changing the
role played by telecommunications in economic and social life. Telecommunication has
come to play a significant role in facilitating Bangladesh as well as the whole world
changing social division of labor between material production and business and consumer
services. Optical fiber cables, microwave and satellite links to the mainland, to say
nothing of cross-border roaming with cellular mobile telephones and pagers, are daily
reducing the transactions costs of doing business, widening the scope of markets as well
as bringing together friends and families. But more than that, telecommunications is
becoming part of the strategic value-chain at the heart of modern business. Obvious
examples include the customer services banks provide over their ATM networks; the
facilities offered by airline and travel agency customer reservation systems; the
information available from online service providers; the planning and co-ordination and
monitoring and control facilities available over wide area computer networks together
with file transfer and data management capability; and so on. Much speculation takes
place as to the future possibilities afforded by inter-active multi-media broadband
networks, often with the thought that the technological potential is developing so rapidly
that research and development engineers are fast creating solutions in search of problems,
and services in search of markets.
So it can be easily said that working and studying with this sectors not only clear our
view about the Telecommunication but also grasp ample opportunity from this
sectors.

1.1 Origin of the Report:

MBA program at Stamford University requires a four months long internship
program to introduce the students with the real life business administration. Teletalk
Bangladesh limited was the organization where the internship took place. The topic
was set and supervised by the internship supervisor Professor Dr. Anisur Rahman,
Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka and
also guided by the Manager of the Teletalk Bangladesh Limited.

2
1.2 Problem Statement of the Report
The problem statement of this research is Exploration of "Marketing Prospects and
Problems of Telecommunication Industries in Bangladesh. Scenario: A Study of
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited".

1.3 Objectives of the Study:

As telecommunication sector is booming business at present over the world and as I am
working in the marketing department of a big telecommunication company, the topics is
so interesting to work with. The broad objective has been stated as the title of this project.
Even this broad objective can be fragmented into some smaller, clearer, specific
objectives.
A) Broad Objective: The broad objective of this project is to study the marketing
prospects and problems of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. comparing the whole marketing
situation of telecommunication market in Bangladesh with Teletalk Bangladesh limited
B) Specific objectives:
• To have an idea about the real situation of Mobile Market in Bangladesh and
abroad.
• To have an idea of marketing activities of different Mobile operators operating in
Bangladesh.
• Comparing the SWOT of different operators in Bangladesh
• To focus on the competitive advantages enjoyed by the Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd.
over its competitors.
• To know the service marketing strategies Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd.
• To know different factors affecting the loyalty of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited
and determine the most important factors for recommendation by using statistical
tools.
• To compare the different marketing strategies of TBL with other operators.

3
1.4 Scope of the Study:
The project part of this report focuses on Marketing Situation of different operators. It
also determines the loyalty factor of Teletalk Bangladesh Limited. This report covers the
present status of different operators, as well as the SWOT analysis of theses operators,
their promotional activities, their tariffs and other issues. This study covers only Dhaka
City because of possible complexity and difficulty in covering whole country and
because of shortage of time and manpower required for the survey. Professionals of
different operators, their clients, dealers and individual customers are the main population
of the study.

1.5 Limitations:
Limitation, which I have faced while doing my report are discussed below:
 Since the Teletalk at its early stage in Bangladesh, not all even are well-known
with the service of the mobile company. One of the major limitations faced while
conducting the study was to communicate with the selected respondents because
they were very busy with their regular jobs.
 As, I had more dependence on the primary sources, so there might be some level
of inaccuracy with those collected information.
 Confidential information regarding past marketing and sales information was not
accurately obtained. Alike all other business holders also very conservative and
strict in providing those information. Still I had tried my best in obtaining that
sensitive information, as much as possible.
 Many of the analysis on the obtained data are based upon my sole interpretation.
This in result might bring some biases, as lack of knowledge and depth of
understanding might hinder me to produce an absolute authentic and meaningful
report.
 Time constraint was another limitation restricting this report from being more
detailed or analytical. The relationship managers at the operation or strategic level
of the concerned department are terrible busy with meeting their targets. So, it
was very difficult for me to get them free and obtain some practical ideas
regarding their expectation and opportunities regarding my topic.

4
1.6 Sources and Methods of Data Collection:
This research is mainly exploring the marketing prospects and problems of
telecommunication industries in Bangladesh. It also explores the determining factors of
the brand loyalty of Teletalk Bangladesh limited. The research method of this paper is
exploratory one i.e. secondary data analysis and personal interview.
Primary Source: Interview with the individual subscriber of different operators.
Secondary Source: The secondary sources like company’s internal newsletter, journals,
web pages, annual reports, various books, and other internal publications were also used
to get information when necessary.

1.7 Sampling:
A) Definition of the Population:
Two major types of population were targeted for the study. Subscribers of different
mobile operators are mainly the targeted population. There are many categories of mobile
subscriber. For example, businesspersons, corporate clients, small and medium sized
enterprises, employees, professionals, students all are Mobile subscriber. Therefore not
all mobile subscribers have been considered as the population of this study. Rather, only
the educated and organizations were considered as the population of the study.
B) Sampling Method:
Multistage random sampling was used for the selection of the sample. Since two types of
target market were considered, the sampling was done in two different phases.
1. Sampling of organizations
2. Sampling of mobile subscribers.
C) Sampling Size:
As the information will be used here for qualitative analysis and some judgmental
decision so the samples are taken only for getting some information and also get some
clear perception about some problem.
D) Report Preview:
The report is divided into four different parts. First part of the report is the organization
part, which will give a general picture of the organization the second part is a brief note

5
of marketing actions taken by different operators. The third part is all about telemarket
situation and some related factors affecting mobile market of Bangladesh. The forth part
will describe the recommendation part by carefully concerning the findings of the
previous discussion.

6
 Chapter-2
2.0 ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW:

2.1 Background
In Bangladesh, mobile telephone was opened to private sector for more than a decade
during which four mobile operators came up to serve the people in this sector. But they
could not fulfill the public demand as anticipated, nor could they cover the whole
geographical area of the country. Moreover, the quality of service being provided by
them was not satisfactory and, above all, their call charges were too high. Under these
circumstances, the idea of establishing mobile telephone project (the “Project”) in the
public sector was conceived. Title of the Project was ‘10 (Ten) Lakh T&T Mobile
Telephone Project (1st Phase - 2.5 Lakh)’ at an estimated cost of Tk.7.96 billion.

2.2 BTTB to execute the Project

In ECNEC it was decided to form a separate public limited company for implementation
and operation of the Project. Bangladesh Telephone & Telegraph Board (“BTTB”),
having longest experience of serving the telecom sector in Bangladesh, undertook
initiatives to form the desired company in public sector. In view of the fact that formation
of a public limited company involves considerable time and various relevant formalities,
it was decided that BTTB should implement the Project and later on the assets out of this
process would be taken over by the desired company to be formed for maintenance and
operation.

2.3 Incorporation of Teletalk

Teletalk Bangladesh Limited (the “Company”) was incorporated on 26 December, 2004
as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 1994 with an authorized capital of
Tk.20, 000,000,000 being the only government sponsored mobile telephone company in
the country. On the same day the Company obtained Certificate of Commencement of
Business.

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2.4 Operating License
The Company has obtained the Cellular Mobile Phone Operator License from
Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (“BTRC”) on 1 September, 2004 for a
period of 15 years. Initially the License was issued in the name of BTTB, and
subsequently upon application, BTRC has changed the name of the operator as Teletalk
Bangladesh Ltd. in place of BTTB. The Company has to operate within the frequency
890.0-895.2/935.0-940.2 Megahartz of GSM band allocated by BTRC for GSM
technology.

2.5 The Project

2.5.1 Basic Objectives For Which Your Company Was Formed Are Highlighted Here
Under:
• To provide mobile telephone service to the people from the public sector;
• To ensure fair competition between public and private sectors and thereby to
safeguard public interest;
• To meet a portion of unmitigated high demand of mobile telephone;
• To create a new source of revenue for the government.
2.5.2 Phase-Wise and Total Project Cost
In order to ensure timely implementation of the Project, competitiveness and mainly to
avoid future dependence on any single supplier the entire Project has been divided into
two Packages. Geographically Package I covers greater Dhaka, Sylhet, Faridpur, Barisal
and its peripheral area and Package II covers greater Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra and most
of the North Bengal districts. Accordingly, BTTB executed supply, installation, testing
and commissioning agreements, on turn-key basis, with:
• Siemens AG, Germany, at a cost of US$40.88 million (Tk.2.40 billion); and
• Huawei Technological Co. Ltd., China at a cost of US$35.17 million (Tk.2.06
billion).
2.5.3 Major Scope Of The Project Is As Under:
• Mobile Switching System and Access Network for 250,000 GSM subscribers;
• GPRS (GSM Packet Radio System) facilities for 2,500 subscribers.

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2.6 Some major events of Teletalk

Formation of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. 26 December, 2004

The Prime Minister inaugurated the telephone 29 December, 2004
line talking with the President
Commercial launching of operation 31 March, 2005
Number of subscribers reached at 100,000 23 June, 2005
Distribution of SIM cards outside Dhaka 27 August, 2005
Participation in the Telecom Fair 2 2 – 24 September, 2005
Commencement of SMS operation 12 October, 2005
Number of subscribers reached 400,000 23 December, 2006

Table 1: Some major events of Teletalk

2.7 Launch of Teletalk:

The long awaited launching of a mobile telecom network by a state-run enterprise had finally
materialized on 31 March 2005. It also fulfilled a cherished dream of people who
continuously demanded to the government for such an enterprise. The government started the
"Mobile Telephone Project" and Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) was
entrusted with the responsibility for implementing the same. The Project work started in June
2004 and the network was soft launched on 29 December 2004. I am happy that BTTB had
been able to keep its promise and deliver in time.
Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. was formed to operate the network installed by BTTB and it has
been successful in operating a standard network and give proper service to the people of
Bangladesh. Teletalk has introduced many attractive packages and all of them have been
welcomed by the market. From the very beginning of its launching,
Teletalk got huge popularity as it triggered the true competition in the market. I am happy to
know that within one year, Teletalk has covered 61 districts, 120 upazillas and most part of
the three major highways of the country. However, there is still a long way to pass for
improving its network.
People have high expectation from Teletalk. They expect continuous network coverage all
over the country, prompt customer service, and more value added services, data services of
high band-width etc. from Teletalk. Teletalk must honor its customers by improving its
services day-by-day so that people can realize that even in a competitive scenario, the public
sector organization can achieve remarkable development if they get opportunity.

9
2.8 At the Beginning Stage of Teletalk:
Teletalk Bangladesh ltd started its commercial operation on 31 March 2005 with
skyscraping expectation. One long year has passed since Teletalk started its commercial
operation. Considering the time of operation of other existing operators in this field, this
period might seem to be small, but considering the first year of operation of an operator
it's pretty significant a time. Probably it's the right times to asses the achievements it has
made - compare them with what it could have achieved and also to scrutinize the
opportunities and threats which are looming over.
The most remarkable success of Teletalk is the slump in Tariff Structure. As soon as
Teletalk announced its tariff the long-lasting oligopoly between other private mobile
operators were shattered. Healthy competition came into the mobile I market causing
almost 50%, if not more, reduction in price both in terms of SIM price and usage rate.
The slump in price made mobile phone affordable even for the low-income group of
people. Using a mobile phone soon became a necessity; it's no more a luxury.
The strength of Teletalk was the confidence of the subscribers in the government institution.
On the other hand it's being the part of government, is probably the biggest weakness
from operational perspective of Teletalk, which will be understandable as we go through
this article. At a time when people were desperately searching the way out to get rid of the
oligopoly of a few operators, Teletalk started its operation with big bang of response.
People became crazy to get a Teletalk SIM. Another good reason for that craze was its
flexibility in connectivity with the other operators. It's the only SIM, which has such a,
versatility of connections having ISD, Economy ISD service along with both incoming
and outgoing connectivity with any of the land phones. The biggest weakness was a
premature entrance in a mature market. As soon as anyone could catch hold of a Teletalk
mobile, he started comparing it with the services of Grameen, Banglalink or Aktel. Having
the slightest of ideas of what problems can impound and compound starting a
commercial operation with such a small coverage containing pockets all over the
places, Teletalk had its first setback. Many of us used to say "Where is the harm in
throwing a system on use with such a small number of BTSs if operator like Grameen
could start its commercial operation with couple of BTSs around." But "think-tanks" of
Teletalk miserably failed to identify the difference of stepping into a developed market and

10
that into a developing market. Moreover, the progress of development of network was far
below the expectation of subscribers. Above all the interfacing with other operators was
so poor, especially with GRAMEEN, mostly because of non-cooperation, it
became a nightmare for the Teletalk subscribers to use a Teletalk mobile.

2.9 Present Status of Teletalk:

Definitely there is no justification brooding on the past unless we utilize that experience
in the further course of time. Let’s try to find out the present standing of Teletalk.
• Subscriber Base: At present there around 875,000 subscriber of TELETALK.
Among them there are 850,000 prepaid and 2450 postpaid and 20,287 PCO
subscriber
• Customer Care: There are eleven customer cares of TBL situated on Dhaka,
Mymenshing, Barisal, Khulna, Bogra, Chittagong, Uttara, Faridpur, Sylhet,
Rajshahi and Comilla.
• Changes Taken Place In The Market
Market competitiveness:
– Competition among the mobile phone operators has reduced subscription
rates and call rates. This triggered a lot of changes in the market.
– There are now options in the hand of the customers at an affordable price.
This contributed to the high growth rate in this sector.
– Increase in number of players in the channel has reduced revenue for
everyone.
Migration of businesses:
– High profitability has attracted many people to the distribution channel. A
lot of people got involved in subscription selling business as a
supplementary to their original line of business. Some others came into
this business as a replacement for their original business.
– Because of drastic reduction in call rates, profitability of PCOs has
dropped, and as a result, some PCOs are migrating to subscription
distribution business.

11
 – Because of rise in number of mobile phone connections, revenue from
recharging business has increased.
– In some areas, growth in subscription business has declined, as many of
the potential customers have turned into current subscribers. This loss of
revenue from subscription business was compensated in cases by profit
from selling handsets.
Supporting businesses:
– A lot of supporting businesses have strung up to cope with the high
demand created by extremely high growth rate in the market.
– Many people are now involved in businesses of scratch cards, electronic
recharging, handsets, accessories, PCOs, handset repair, value added
services (ring-tones, music, games, downloads), etc.
• Industry Growth: Important Factors
Growth in mobile phone subscription business is affected by various factors:
– Entrance of new companies. Whenever new companies have entered the
market, there had been a surge in subscription selling business. This has
happened in case of entrance of Banglalink and that of Teletalk.
– New package offers by existing operators. New offers from existing
operators have always created interest among the customers. A segment of
the customer segment is always interested in buying new offers. Reduction
in tariff and subscription fee has encouraged these kinds of buyers. These
low price offers have also brought some periphery customers under mobile
subscription
– Penetration of mobile phone subscription. There are some areas where
there has been a drop in subscription selling, because of increase in current
subscribers and reduction in potential subscribers.
● Consumer Profile
– At the point of purchase, sellers do get the opportunity to draw a picture of
the consumer.
– Age of visitors: Most of the visitors at the mobile phone shops are young,
between the age of approximately 15 and 30

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 – First time buyers:Of all the visitors at the shops, most are found to be
current owners of mobile phones. The ratio between new users and current
users vary from place to place. In most of the places, around 10-30%
visitors at mobile shops currently do not possess a mobile phone. The rest
(70-90%) are current owners of mobile phone. Of the current owners most
are young and always looking for new offers. Some even buy more than
one connections at a time. The current non-users of mobile phone who
visit shops are mostly from the lower SEC and possess little knowledge
about mobile phones

2.10 Departments of the Teletalk:

As the service marketing concept must demand the process, persons, physical evidence
along with products, place, price, promotion, any service company must have its department
compatible with this concept. Teletalk dose not deny the concept, having the following
department to achieve its objectives:
• Human Resource
• Marketing
• Customer Service
• Billing And It
• Operations: Network Plnning
• System Engineering: Procurement
• Finance

2.11 TELETALK and its business analysis

TELETALK is a newly emerged Govt. mobile service operator in country’s cell phone
service market with nation wide coverage. Within a very short period of time, it has covered
61 dist. HQ, 158 thana and the main national highways and developed 11 full-fledged
customer care centers. Over 200 outlets are being working to distribute SIMs and Scratch
cards in the country.. TELETALK BANGLADESH LIMITED has gone into interconnection
agreement with all four private cell phone service providers named Citycell (PBTL), AKTEL
(TMIB), Grameen Phone (GP) and Banglalink for providing more superior services to

13
TELETALK’s consumers. Recognizing its tremendous success (introducing web based
lottery, self employed virtual dealership, fastest coverage progress and price-cut),
TELETALK has been emerged a trend setter in mobile phone sector of Bangladesh. It got
unique position for its special features that other players are not offering right now, such as,
born out of commitment. To make profit but not at the cost of customer, nationwide
transmission backbone support, professional excellence, transparent financial transaction, all
transaction through Bank, fewer Packages, no tricks: customer Confidence, no incoming
Charge, all Package has BTTB incoming and outgoing, 100% ISD and EISD facility. The
most remarkable success of Teletalk is the slump in Tariff Structure. As soon as Teletalk
announced its tariff the long-lasting oligopoly between other private mobile operators were
shattered. Healthy competition came into the mobile market causing almost 50%, if not
more, reduction in price both in terms of SIM price and usage rate. The slump in price made
mobile phone affordable even for the low-income group of people. Using a mobile phone
soon became a necessity; it's no more a luxury.
The strength of Teletalk was the confidence of the subscribers in the government
institution. On the other hand it's being the part of government, is probably the biggest
weakness from operational perspective of Teletalk, which will be understandable as we go
through this article. At a time when people were desperately searching the way out to get
rid of the oligopoly of a few operators, j Teletalk started its operation with big bang of
response. People became frenzy to get a Teletalk SIM. Another good reason for that craze
was its flexibility in connectivity with the other operators. It's the only SIM, which has
such a, versatility of connections having ISD, Economy ISO service along with both
incoming and outgoing connectivity with any of the land phones. The biggest weakness
was a premature entrance in a mature market. As soon as anyone could catch hold of a
Teletalk mobile, he started comparing it with the services of Grameen, Banglalink or
Aktel.
Having the slightest of ideas of what problems can impound and compound starting a
commercial operation with such a small coverage containing pockets all over the
places, Teletalk had its first setback. Many of us used to say "Where is the harm in throwing
a system on use with such a small number of BTSs if operator like Grameen could start
its commercial operation with couple of BTSs around." But "think-tanks" of Teletalk

14
miserably failed to identify the difference of stepping into a developed market and that into
a developing market. Moreover, the progress of development of network was far below the
expectation of subscribers. Above all the interfacing with other operators was so poor,
especially with GRAMEEN, mostly because of non-cooperation, it became a
nightmare for the Teletalk subscribers to use a Teletalk mobile. Peoples' hope was
immediately dashed out and all the opportunities Teletalk had started with immediately
began shrinking and squeezing.

2.12 Network Coverage:

Network Coverage, now-a-days, has become most strategic strength for any operator and
Teletalk has given the highest priority regarding the coverage. At present, TBL has 668
BTS around the Bangladesh and the distribution is like in Dhaka City (177), Dhaka
Division (134), Chittagong City (71), Chittagong Division (77), Khulna Division (50),
Rajshahi Division (86), Barisal Division (35) , Sylhet Division (38). In fact it has network
coverage in 61 districts but the truth is that the weakest part of the TBL is its low network
coverage.

2.13 Marketing Mix:

2.13.1 Product Profile:
Different packages of Teletalk.
• Post-paid package:
Teletalk post-paid package designed for high user group, the whole country is considered
as a single zone. Moreover subscribers can select three numbers that provide them a
reduce tariff round the clock.
• Rajanighandha post-paid:
It has one (1) second pulse facility, no security deposit, no line rent, but bill must be Tk.
500 at least in a month. Subscribers could pay their bill with cash card, also select three
numbers for friend and family (F&F) option, which are three Teletalk numbers, or two
Teletalk numbers and one T & T number that offers a reduced tariff.
• Standard Pre-paid package:

15
It has no line rent; whole country is in single zone. This package also offers a reduced
tariff for two Teletalk numbers or one Teletalk & one T&T round the clock (FnF). Its
first pulse is 30 seconds and the following 15 seconds.
• Padma pre-paid package:
This package is designed for the subscribers who live in other places except Dhaka
metropolitan area, Narayangonj, Gazipur. The price of this package is cheaper than other
packages. Scratch card validity is lifetime and other facilities are same to other pre-paid
package. Subscribers has to pay 100% extra charge if it is used in Dhaka metropolitan
area and Gazipur, Narayangonj.
ISD and E-ISD:
All teletalk SIMs are ISD and it has opportunity to call only 7.50/= to 55 countries by
using 012 code called economy ISD.
Corporate Package:
Teletalk has around 20 corporate clients using prepaid or postpaid service.
International Roaming:
It has roaming facilities in 5 country also. The fortunate matter is that within one month it
is going to inaugurate roaming service in over 400 operators of 159 country.
2.13.2 Price:
Pricing is one of the marketing mix tools that a company uses to achieve it marketing
objectives. Teletalk decides its service pricing on the basis of cost based pricing. They
always think about the consumer purchase capability. That’s why they try to fix a
reasonable price for the consumer.
Pre-paid (Standard) Package
• Connection fee : 290.00 Tk. (50 Tk. Talk Time Free)
• 1st pulse for first 30 sec and 15 sec pulse onwards
• VAT will be added as usual
Padma Package
• Connection fee. 190.00 Tk (100 Tk. Talk Time Free)
• Call Charge will be 20% more when used in Dhaka Metro., Gazipur,
Narayanganj.

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Shapla Package (Post-paid)
• Teletalk to other phone, tk - 1.30/min [any time]
• Teletalk to Teletalk, tk- 1.00/min [Any time]
• 1 sec pulse
• Connection fee : 590.00 Tk
• Minimum Monthly Bill tk - 1000.
• Security Deposit tk - 1500.
• Vat applicable
Rajanigandha Package (Post-paid)
• Connection fee : 990.00 Tk
• 1 sec pulse
• No. monthly line rent
• Payment facility in Cash Card
• Minimum charge 500 Tk.
• Apon 3 jon (FnF) facility (3 Teletalk Number 0.75 Tk or 2 Teletalk and 1 other
operator 1.50 Tk.)
• If monthly bill exceeds 2000 tk 5% exempted and if 4000 tk. 10% exempted.
Post-paid Package
• Connection : 990.00 Tk.
2.13.3 Place:
Teletalk has a proper distribution team and channel. It has already appointed 62 dealers
over the country. Besides it is distributing its product by customer care and bank. It is
strugling very hard to make its product available countrywide.
The distribution channel for mobile phone subscription has changed somewhat over the
last year or so. There is still a multitude of levels within the channel. This channel has
shrunk vertically during the last year or so and created a shallower channel.

17
 Company Customers

Main Dealers Authorised Wholesalers Retailers

(Area-based) Dealers Wholesalers
Sub- without
Authorised Stores
Dealers
Area-based
Authorised
Dealers
Fig 1: Distribution channel
2.13.4 Promotional Activities Of Teletalk
Promotion:
Promotion is one of the marketing tools that a company uses to achieve its marketing
objectives. Each promotion tools has unique characteristics to improve their total sales.
Teletalk are trying to do more promotional activities for their service. Teletalk Marketing
promotion can be classified in several steps
Advertisements in the national newspapers
Examples of advertisements published in the national newspapers:

Advertisements through billboards

The billboards installed so far by Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is listed below :

SL
No Location qty View

1 Kachpur- Dhaka Facing 1

2 Op N. U- Dhaka Facing 1
3 Saidabad bridge 1 Unipol

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 4 Mohakhali Flyover (Both) 1 Unipol
5 Shahabagh 1
6 GEC Circle (Ctg) 1
7 Gabtoli Bus Stand-Savar face 1
8 Chittagong Railway Station 1
9 Dhanmondi Rassel Square 1
10 Cox,s Bazar,near sea beach 1 Unipol
11 Patanga sea beach more 1
12 Dewanhat moor, Ctg 1 Unipol
13 Zatrabari Moor 1 Unipol
14 Uttara, Azampur 1 Unipol
15 Asulia road, Dhaka 1 Unipol
16 Khamarbari, Farmgate 1
17 Sheraton Hotel 1
18 Gulshan-1, Moor 1
19 Khilgaon Flyover 1 Unipol
20 Mohakhali, Airport 1
21 Bus Branding 10 Bus
22 Agrabad, SK Mujib Road 1 Unipol
Banani, Front of Community
23 Center 1 Unipol
24 Malibagh Moor 1
25 Mirpur-10 1
26 Hatikamrul Moor, Shirajgang 1 Unipol
Table 2: Advertisements through billboards

Personal Selling:
Personal presentation by the firm’s sales forces for the purpose of making sales and
building customer relationship. Teletalk uses personal selling in different stages of
marketing and distribution. Company distributes their product (SIM, Scratch, Cash card)
among the wholesalers and retailers by maintaining the excellent relationship. Teletalk’s
communicate with corporate client by its sales force building and keeping relationship
with potential and existing valued customer.
Sales promotion:
Sales promotion includes a wide way of tools that can attract consumer’s attraction,
strong incentive of purchase, free gifts, discount and several types of occasional program.

19
Teletalk sales promotion includes credit sales, commission etc. Teletalk arrange
conference every year among the dealers, wholesalers and retailers. They always try to
influence and convince them for creating a market demand and sale their product. here is
some examples of Teletalk promotion that can be highlighted :
Medical treatment for Bushra: Teletalk initiated a helping program for Bushra - who is
a patient of blood cancer. One can send SMS for Bushra to help raise fund for medical
treatment. She is a 3 years old girl suffering from blood cancer. She needs bone marrow
transplantation.
To SMS for her, the process is :
1. Go to SMS option.
2. Write Bushra
3. Sent to 666.

Road show: Teletalk organized a two days long road show. Here subscribers got the
opportunity to buy SIM of different pre-paid package at 90TK,where regular offer is
290TK.

Handbag Distribution: At Bangla academy “Ekusay Boi Mela” Teletalk distributed

handbag in visitors who bought book from fair. There was slogan on handbag for raising
awareness for reading book.
Public Relation:
Public relation is used to promote products, people, places, ideas, activities, organizations
and even nations. Public relation can also influence a product sales or brand awareness.
Teletalk arrange meeting always with the wholesalers and retailer for maintaining a good
relationship with them. General people can also come to the Teletalk office for their
quaries and for expressing their concern about any telecom related factors.Following
address is the public relation office of Teletalk:

Social Committment:

20
Blood Donation program: One of prominent social contribution of Teletalk is in the field
of Voluntary blood donation. Teletalk has sponsored and directly participated in various
voluntary Blood Donation Programs around the country. ORCA (Old Rajshahi cadet
association) had organized a blood donation program which was sponsored by TeleTalk.

Blanket distribution Program: In Ranjpur district TeleTalk distributed 500 blankets in

distressed people by Anjuman Mofidul Islam. In Bangladesh every year in cold prone
area people died in cold related disease due to their disability to buy warm cloths.

2.14 Service offered:

Services
Teletalk ISO facilities: Every subscriber of Teletalk gets the opportunity of economy ISO
or EISD in 25 countries. In this way subscriber has to pay 7.50 Tk per minute. To get this
service instead of access code 00 dial 012, then country code, then area code and then
desired number.
SMS
A SMS of 160 characters charge Tk. 1.00 only Both Bengali & English language can be
used.
Teletalk Push-Pull Service
It is like SMS, one can get answer to the question he requires. Teletalk offers scores of
important cricket match through push-pull service. To know the score type eric and the
first three letter of the participated country and then send to 222 number. You will be able
to get the Sehri and Iftar's time during the Ramadan, Cricket, Weather, Quotes, Jokes,
Horoscope, Pray time with the push-pull service.
Teletalk Own VAS Offerings:
1. GPRS:
2. Cricket Update:
3. Post-paid bill query.
4. Cash card electronic charging:
5. medical treatment sponcer for Bushra:
6. Friends and family Number.

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7. To Migrate your Pre-paid standard Connection to Teletalk PADMA.

Some Other Value Added Service Of Teletalk:

Jokes
joke<space><joke number> Joke Number: 001 - 038
Example: joke 020

Weather wt<space><city name> City Name: Dhaka, Delhi, Tokyo,

Example: wt dhaka Bangkok, Beijing, Singapore, London,
New York, Paris, Moscow, Calcutta,
Chittagong, Barisal, Bogra, Sylhet,
Sydney, Melbourne, Karachi

Taxi taxi<space><division> Division: dhk, cht, khl, syl, jes, raj,

<space><taxi type> brs
Example: taxi dhk yellow Taxi Type: yellow, black

Horoscope hor<space><sign> Signs: ari, leo, sag, tau, vir, cap, gem, lib,
Example: hor ari aqu, can, sco, pis

Quotes qot<space><quote Love Quote Number: 001 - 095

type><space><quote number> Fun Quote Number: 001 - 038
Example: qot love 023 Birth Quote Number: 001 - 076
Friend Quote Number: 001 - 043

Emergency emrg<space><division> Division: dhk, cht, khl, syl, jes, raj, brs
<space><ph num type> Ph Number Type: pol, fire, amb
Example: emrg dhk pol

International fc<space><city name> City Name: Dhaka, Delhi, Tokyo,

Weather Example: fc new york Bangkok, Beijing, Singapore, London,
Forecasting New York, Paris, Moscow, Calcutta,
Chittagong, Barisal, Bogra, Sylhet,
Sydney, Melbourne, Karachi

Cricket cric<space><first 3 alphabet of

cricketing country>
Example for Bangladesh :
cric ban
Table 3: Value Added Service Of Teletalk

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 2.15 SWOT Analysis of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd:

Strength weakness

1. Low cost provider regarding its 1. Premature entrance in a mature market.

competitor.
2. Subscriber inclination to
Teletalk as a government owned
organization
2. The progress of development of network is
far below from the subscriber expectation.
3. High connection charge.

3. Teletalk’s all connections are 4. Lack of potential and efficient employee.

ISD & EISD.
4. Teletalk is the only indigenous
company using GSM service.
5. From the very beginning it is
providing free TNT incoming.
6. It has also provided incoming
facility up to 2015.
7. Moreover its contribution to our
economy can be notable.
5. Lower number of human resource.
6. Failed to identify difference between
developed market and developing market.
7. Lower promotional activities.
8. Weak management system
9. Poor marketing

Opportunities Threats

1. Teletalk can use the image of local 1. An upcoming mobile service provider named
and government owned organization. WARID TELECOM a concern of Dhabi group and
present market rivals.
2. Introduction of new technology and
services. 2. The invention of technology which is new
modern and consumer oriented.
3. Expand the market in the rural area.
3. Another invisible threat is land phone operator.
4. Teletalk can use the experience of
BTTB.
5.Teletalk can use soft switch network,

Table 4: SWOT of Teletalk

23
 2.15.1 Analysis Of Strengths:
 Subscriber inclination to Teletalk as a government owned organization: People
have a deep inclination towards Teletalk Because subscribers have more confidence
in the government institution. They think that they might get some extra benefit from
teletalk like lower call rate, optical fiber facilities etc. rather than other providers.
 Teletalk’s all connections are ISD & EISD: It’s a big strength of teletalk. It’s the
only SIM which has such a versatility of connections having ISD, Economy ISD
service along with both incoming and outgoing connectivity with any of the land
phones. This is not seen to other providers. It gives a tremendous competitive
advantage to the teletalk Bangladesh ltd over its respective competitors.
 Teletalk is the only indigenous company using GSM service: Teletalk is the only
local organization which is providing GSM technology in this country. The other
local organization named pacific telecom is providing CDMA technology which is
more expensive. So teletalk can take this advantage over its competitors.
 It has also provided incoming facility up to 2015: Teletalk have a strong strength
over its competitors incase of incoming facility. Teletalks present incoming duration
is up to 20015. Which is 20 times more than other competitors?
 From the very beginning it is providing free TNT incoming: Teletalk is the only
provider which is providing T&T incoming free from the very beginning. Whether
other operators providers providing such kind of facility just now.
 Moreover its contribution to our economy can be notable: As a Govt. owned
company teletalk have a strong contribution in our national economy. Its one of the
high profit generating Govt. organization in Bangladesh.
 Low cost provider: The most remarkable success of Teletalk is the slump in tariff
structure. It is the lowest cost provider in Bangladesh telecommunication market. As
soon as teletalk announced its tariff the long lasting oligopoly between other private
mobile providers were shattered. Healthy competition came into the mobile market.
2.15.2 Analysis of Weaknesses

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 Premature entrance in mature market:The biggest weakness was a premature entrance
in a mature market. As soon as anyone could catch hold of a Teletalk mobile, he
started comparing it with the services of Grameen, Banglalink or Aktel.
 Lower number of human resource: The number of employee of teletalk is too much
lower regarding its requirement. As a result the service quality and customer
satisfaction go down.
 Failed to identify difference between developed market and developing market:
Teletalk failed to identify the difference between developed market and developing
market. There strategy making is not match with the current situation.
 Lower promotional activities: The promotional campaign of teletalk is not too much
strong like other providers of Bangladesh as result consumers are less aware about
teletalk and its package.
 Weak management system: poor coordination among different functional department
of Teletalk as result service efficiency goes down.
 Poor marketing: The overall marketing activities of Teletalk is not much rich like
other competitors.
 Lower number of value added service: Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. is providing a less
number of value added service to its subscriber regarding its competitors. As a result
subscribers are becoming dissatisfied on the Teletalk service. The comparison of
value added services of different operators are mention below. Where as Teletalk
providing less number of value added service.
 The progress of development of network is far below from the subscriber expectation:
the expansion of network coverage is too much slow. People thought that teletalk
should use the BTTB’s network facilities; as a result teletalk can cover the most of
the area of Bangladesh. But in reality this is not true.
 High connection charge: The SIM price of teletalk is too many high packages from
the other operators, having similar facilities offered by teletalk, are available at 3 to 4
times less price than that of teletalk. It is totally unjustifiable to charge subscriber
such an astounding price for having a SIM of a network which doesn’t have
satisfactory level of coverage.
2.15.3 Analysis of Opportunities

25
 Teletalk can use the image of local and government owned organization: General
people have a deep inclination to the govt. owned organization especially to the local
organization. People want to keep the money into own country. So teletalk can use
such kind of soft corner of consumers and promote the service to them.
 Introduction of new technology and services: Teletalk can implement new and
consumer oriented technology in this sector. Because people have inclination to new
and modern technology. Now a day’s people are ready to accept the new thing.
 Expand the market in the rural area: Till now there is huge area is remain out of
coverage where a huge number of target consumers are available. So teletalk can
bring that respective area under coverage and catch those potential consumers.
 Teletalk can use the experience of BTTB: BTTB one of the old and experience
organization in Bangladesh telecommunication sector. They have special experience
about the consumer behavior of Bangladesh. They know about the consumer’s need
and want. So teletalk can take help from the BTTB about this matter and implement
those criteria in the competitive market. Which things, give teletalk competitive
advantage over its respective competitors.
 Teletalk can use softswitch network: The softswitch network separates the bearer and
control layers and a softswitchcentric network can be built on different types of
bearer networks such as TDM, IP and ATM unlike, legacy network that depend on a
single specific switching technology. Based on strategic planning and the
developmental phase, an operator can select suitable bearer mode technologies for
different phases, from the perspective of long term sustainable development, the IP
centered softswitch network defines the future. So teletalk can use this technology
and practice competitive advantage over rivals.
2.14.4 Analysis of Threats
 An upcoming mobile service provider named WARID TELECOM a concern of
Dhabi group: At present Bangladeshi mobile sector is almost saturated , after that a
new company named WARID is going to starts its operation in Bangladesh which
going to become a big threats to teletalk and other operators.
 The invention of technology which is new modern and consumer oriented:
Technology is changing with day run. It changes the consumer’s demand pattern by

26
 offering different attractive features. As a result consumer shifts from one technology
to other technology, which might create a big problem to teletalk and others.
 Another invisible threat is land phone operator: In Bangladesh land phone operator is
expand the market with day run. People are switch from mobile to land phone
operators. As a result ultimately the number of mobile user is decreasing and create
problem to the mobile operators as well as teletalk.

2.16 Conclusion: Teletalk Is A Trend Setter In Bangladesh

TELETALK Bangladesh Limited is the first government owned private cellular operator
in Bangladesh. TELETALK BANGLADESH LIMITED has a goal to receive an
economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of
Bangladesh where telecommunications can play a critical role. TELETALK
BANGLADESH LIMITED believes in service, a service that leads to good business and
good development. Telephone helps people work together, raising their productivity. This
gain in productivity is development, which in turn enables them to afford a telephone
service, generating a good business. Thus development and business go together.
The main goal of TELETALK BANGLADESH LIMITED is to deliver SIM kits to the
subscriber at a cheap rate and make a competitive market . All the categories of
subscribers, in our initial offerings, had collected their SIM kits through banks. Which is
very satisfactory of SIM collection rate. When the subscriber received their SIM kits, the
innocent smile of them shows recessive support to TELETALK. This is the great
achievement of TELETALK Bangladesh Limited.
In service sector, FDI inflow in Bangladesh is enormous. Telecom sector is become the
core of interest in FDI in Bangladesh. So it is expected in the long run, TELETALK has
to face an immense competition. As well as we are also forecasting the market culture
might change if the profit margin reduce at current ratio. In the long run TELETALK
can able to face the market competition successfully if it can meet the strategic marketing
approaches in all levels of policy decisions and applications.

27
 Chapter-3
3 MARKETING PRACTICE OF OTHER OPERATORS AND SWOT

GRAMEEN PHONE:
3.1 Historical Background:
Grameenphone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications on November 28, 1996. The Company launched its service on
March 26, 1997.
The shareholders of Grameenphone contribute their unique, in-depth experience in both
telecommunications and development. Grameenphone and its mission to provide
affordable telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh. Currently Telenor holds
62% share & Grameen Telecom holds 38% share. Grameen Telecom, which owns 28%
of the shares of Grameenphone, is a not-for-profit company and works in close
collaboration with Grameen Bank.

3.2 Company Vision: "We are here to help"

3.3 Company Mission: The vision will be achieved by

• Connecting Bangladesh with ease and care
• Being user-friendly
• Providing value for money
• Providing simple and timely connections
• Having a right and understandable process

3.4 Company Objectives: "Good Business, Good Development"

3.5 Marketing Mix of Grameenphone:

3.5.1 Products
The products of Grameenphone can be classified as:

28
  Post Paid
 Pre-Paid
 DJUICE
 Business Solutions
 Public Phone
 International Roaming
Post Paid
Under Post Paid Service there are 3 products:
a) Xplore-1
b) Xplore-2
c) Public phone
Pre-Paid
Under Pre-Paid Service there are 2 products:
a) Smile (With PSTN Connectivity)
b) Smile (M2M)
Business Solutions
Business Solutions is a high quality and fully integrated telecommunications service from
Grameenphone, especially designed for the business entities of Bangladesh. As the
largest and most customer centric telecommunication service provider in the country,
Grameenphone provides customer oriented and customized telecommunications solutions
through a highly consultative approach. What Grameenphone offers is a suite of
specialized products and services covering all communication needs for professionals,
small, medium-sized enterprises to large companies. Comprising of modern mobile
telecommunications services for any business needs, Grameenphone provides voice
services, messaging services and mobile data and internet services. Grameenphone also
provides a complete Mobile Office solution, including mobile e-mail, mobile high-speed
data access, internet access, mobile fax and more, giving you the freedom to work from
anywhere you want to.
Djuice
Djuice is a mobile subscription for young people who use the mobile phone for
communication and entertainment. It is a registered trademark owned by Telenor, which

29
is a leading provider of mobile voice and value added services in the Scandinavian
region, Central Eastern Europe and South East Asia and embraces operation in 12
countries. DJUICE is currently operating in Norway, Sweden, Ukraine and Hungary.
International Roaming
In March 1999, GrameenPhone introduced this premium service for the first time in
Bangladesh and now provides International Roaming service to its own subscribers
traveling abroad as well as to foreign operators’ subscribers traveling in Bangladesh. For
the first time in Bangladesh in July 2006, GrameenPhone launched Roaming Services
(both GSM and EDGE/GPRS) with CAMEL Phase II for Pre paid In-bound subscribers.
GrameenPhone has unique ‘One to One’ relationship with all its International Roaming
partner operators. As of Sep 2006, GrameenPhone has 315 GSM partner operators in 115
countries in 6 continents and 44 EDGE/GPRS partner operators in 16 countries.
3.5.2 Places/Distribution:
Gramenephone makes its products highly available allover the country, whereits
networks facility have been established. Currently they are distributing its product via
Dealers, francises, GPCC(Grammennphone customecare centre),
GPDC(Grammennphone distribution centre). It has almost thousands of outlets, who are
continuously providing products of grameen phone.
3.5.3 Promotional Activities Of Grameenphone:
Thankyou Bonus:
GP's thankyou program provides with a number of rewards that will make your mobile
phone experience with us even more satisfying.
• Discount on Voice Calls
For pre-paid Subscribers GP gives quarterly Bonus Amount and for post-paid
Subscribers, it gives Monthly Discount Rate on voice call.
• Discount through SMS
With thankyou SMS Discounts, there are shopping surprises with every SMS.
thankyou crown
thankyou crown membership offers you special personal service and care with cheaper
cost and alos gives Exclusive Discounts with thankyou crown membership at various
exclusive local and International thankyou crown partners.
Other Promotions:

30
 • GP’s Nababarsha promotions
• Mother's Day thankyou vaccination discount
• Grameenphone Services & Competition for Bangladesh-India Cricket Series!
• MMS Competition

Fig 2: Ad of GP

3.5.4 Price:
As strategically grameenphone is so much strong than any other operator's operating in
the market, they are very conscious about their pricing policy. They considering every
thing like the economic condition of the country, competitors offering, the customer
demand, inter operator charge, product quality etc. This is why probably their pricing is

31
 not as customer expectations or the lowest. See more about pricing and tariff of different
packages in appendix.......................
3.5.5 Persons, Process and Physical Evidence:
GP has superb quality HR department along with MARKETING, COMMUNICATION,
BRANDING, BILLING, IT, FINANCE, SYSTEM ENGINEERING, OPERATION,
CUSTOMER CARE etc. and a superb driving professional governing body, consisted of
excellent professionals. They are also infrastructurally strong as they have divisional
office, regional office, GPCC, GPDC etc.

3.6 Services from Grameenphone Center

• Postpaid SIM replacement • Password unblock

• Postpaid reconnection • Prepaid SIM replacement
• Postpaid Migration • Pre reconnection
• Ownership transfer • Prepaid Migration
• International Roaming • F & F , My easy, My time, My choice
• Billing Address change activation, change and deactivation (need
• Itemized Bill basis)
• Complain & query handling • Balance transfer related problem
• F&F configuration • Expunge card
• Bar / unbar • Expired card
• Temporary disconnection • Thank you bonus
• Permanent disconnection • Complain & query handling
• Bill / usage / payment information • Itemized bill
• Welcome tunes configuration • Bar / unbar
• Wrong account posting • Welcome tunes configuration
• Technical problem • Edge configuration
• New activation • Dual claim
• Account inclusion and separation • Technical problem
• Product information • New activation.
• Death case • Product Information
• Duplicate paper • Refund
• Signatory change • Signatory change (for company phone only)
• Refund • VSMS
• Adjustment • Voice mail
• SIM check • Cell-email
• VSMS • Faulty SIM Replacement (both pre and post
• Zone change paid)
• Zone restriction • FOC
• Password unblock
• Edge related services.

32
3.7 Value Added Services:
You will be able to use all these services whenever you need them, wherever you are. All
you need is to have a GP mobile phone to get these services.
• Messaging Services
• Information Alerts
• Data Transfer
• Fax
• Entertainment Services
• Browsing the Internet
• Send and receive e-mails
• Download Contents
• Customize Your Handset
• Participate in Competitions
• Vote your Opinions

3.8 Strategy of Grameenphone:

Grameenphone’s basic strategy is the coverage of both urban and rural areas. The
Company has devised its strategies so that it earns healthy returns for its shareholders
and at the same time, contributes to genuine development of the country. In short, it
pursues a dual strategy of good business and good development.
Serving the mass market is one of GP's primary goals. By serving the general public as
opposed to niche markets, the Company plans to achieve economies of scale and healthy
profits. At the same time, service to the general public means connectivity to a wider
population and general economic development of the country. In contrast to the "island"
strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of
urban coverage through transmission links, Grameenphone builds continuous coverage,
cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on
market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout

33
 Grameenphone’s network. In addition, GP has positioned itself to capitalize on the
declining prices of handsets, making its goal to serve the general public realistic.

3.9 SWOT Analysis

Company Strengths and Resource Capabilities:

• The shareholders of GP contribute their unique, in depth experience in both

telecommunications and development from four corners of the globe. International
shareholders bring technological and business expertise while local shareholder
provides a presence throughout Bangladesh and a deep understanding of its economy.
All are dedicated to Bangladesh and its struggle for economic progress and have a
serious commitment to GP.

• Access to the widest rural distribution network through Grameen Bank

• Grameen Bank has over 800 field offices in all over Bangladesh, which allows GP to
establish towers and base stations in those places at free cost thus becoming a source
of competitive edge.

• GP is the leading provider of telecom services all over Bangladesh, it is the largest in
South Asia and 5th largest in the world.

• Availability of fiber optic Backbone Network

• Wide Network coverage in 61 districts.(92%)

• Highest number of subscribers (as of February 2007:13.5 million)

• 2800 (2007) base stations operating around the country

• 450 distributors point of sale, 5 information centers, 500 outlet agents and 3000
nonexclusive outlet all over the country

• Product development plan is excellent.

• New products have been introduced and GP is the pioneer in launching the mobile-to-
mobile service. Grameenphone was also the first to launch the pre-paid service,which
is the most popular and best selling product of GP

• International Roaming Facilities

34
• different types of value-added services like WAP, SMS, VMS and News update

• Market awareness - GP has wide distribution network and good knowledge of this
and therefore serves the market demand accordingly.

• Financial Soundness

• Skilled Human Resource

Company Weaknesses and Resource Deficiencies:
• Poor services due to network jam/ over load
• Inside-out thinking in the company
• Dealer management is not up to standard
• Complicated Price/Billing Picture
• Poor Ethical Standard
• Network limitations - Call drop, congestion, and poor connectivity with BTTB result
in bad image of the company.
Potential Company Opportunities:
• A total of 100 roaming agreements with numerous operators have been signed
• Constant deteriorating law and order situation is a threat to any kind of business
activities in the country and thus mobile phone can help the people to relieve each
others anxiety. Therefore there is an additional desire to own a mobile phone for
safety and security purpose
• Grameenphone has won worldwide acclaim and appreciation for its Village Phone
Program through which it can intensify its operations as socially responsible
company and enhance its image further
• International advertisements on mobile communication in the mass media have
generated more interest and awareness, so people are more interested to own a mobile
phone
• GP has the opportunity to use the optical fiber for expanding their coverage
• Sub-leasing transmission capacity from its optical fiber network to other mobile
operators and as well as to other organization for earning future revenues

35
• Increased efficiency resulting from the introduction of new technology
and automation may be viewed as an opportunity by introducing new and innovative
products like SMS, VMS, WAP which could position GP as a technologically
advance service provider
• Declining prices for handset
• GP developed Customized offering for different segments. For Businessmen GP has
Business Solution packages where GP gives total communication solution.
• EDGE, an internet services which is ten times faster than the Broadband services
available in the mass market in cheaper price.
• Future privatization of fixed network
• New international gateway
• Alliances or joint ventures that expand the market coverage and competitive
capability.
• The data transfer market will probably play a significant role in revenue generation in
future years.
Potential External Threats:
• Other existing cellular operators (CityCell, AKTEL, Sheba) and their strategic moves
• Likely entry of potent new competitors (a) private company is planning to introduce
Personal Handyphone System (PHS) cordless telephones in a profit-sharing
partnership with BTTB. (b) Word Tel is another company that is planning to join the
cell phone e industry in Bangladesh provided the government gives it the permission
to do so.
• Adverse Shifts in Foreign Exchange rates: Devaluation is a regular phenomenon and
this might continue in coming days which could affect the mobile companies since
the main part of investment comes from abroad
• Deterioration of law and order, political instability that can affect the growth of
expansion and service
• Banglalink continuously developing threats in market. BL aggressively reduces the
prices in all products. Their sales team hasn't the capacity to fight with GP in market.
They using price as a weapon to fight with GP.

36
• AKTEL continuously loosing their market shares that's why they became aggressive
and develop different product with cheaper tariff. And finally cannibalizing develops
among the AKTEL products.
• More influence of competitor/s on the fixed network
• Growing bargaining power of customers
• Non-availability of funds
• Recently Bangladesh Govt. formed a committee to collect more revenue from the
telecom operator. At present GP provides 5.5 % of revenue but now govt. wants 15%
of revenue.

Chapter-4
4.0 Mobile Market in Bangladesh:

There is tremendous potential for Wireless Internet in Bangladesh despite of Bangladesh

Telephony infrastructure is relatively poor compare to any other developing countries
like India, Malaysia etc. Previously telecommunications has not been on the Bangladesh
government’s priority and available resources were not directed to basic infrastructure
requirements for wireless technology. However, from the last decade there are signs that
Bangladesh Govt. are in the planning to increasingly motivated to support
telecommunications as they view this as a necessity rather than a luxury for economic
growth and as well as potential job opportunities. And the result is to increase mobile
penetration 9 to 18 in the current year than the previous year.
Now Bangladesh is a market for almost 20 million mobile phones. Growth in
Bangladesh’s mobile telephone sector, from a humble beginning in the early-1990s, has
really growing fast in the past few years, aided by higher subscriber volumes, lower
tariffs and falling handset prices.
Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (CityCell) has consistently set the benchmark of the
telecom industry in Bangladesh. They first launch mobile phone in the Sub-continent and
first private wireless network in Bangladesh, first to adopt CDMA technology in the sub-

37
continent. Since the inception of mobile phone in Bangladesh early 1990s when it used to
cost $1500 to get a mobile connection and the rate went down to $100 now, while lowest
per minute tariff is about .01 cents. After this event, in November 1996, licenses for
cellular mobile telephone were issued to GrameenPhone Ltd, Telecom Malaysia
International BD Ltd. and Orascom Ltd. All these are joint-venture companies between
Bangladeshi companies and foreign partners except Orascom Ltd.
Recently lot of attention is focused on the use of wireless networks, and in particular wi-
fi, as a relatively low-cost way of getting fast network access to rural areas and less-
developed country like Bangladesh. Wi-fi is not the only wireless networking technology.
Packet radio, microwave links and even 3G phone networks could all do a similar job.
But wi-fi is the latest thing and a growing number of companies and market analysts have
started using it as the next big thing, the focus for a next generation internet-style boom.
Learn Foundation Bangladesh, a non-profit charity set up in 1997. It has worked to bring
computers and the Internet to isolated rural areas of Bangladesh, using wireless
technology. The Learn Foundation has already built seven radio towers in seven villages
in Bangladesh and the target is to establish a broadband network in a 2,500 square
kilometers areas. GrameenPhone Ltd. launches Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
service on July1st, 2001 and Short Message Service (SMS). GrameenPhone Ltd ladies
provide villagers with a vital link to services such as hospitals and to relatives both at
home and abroad, in a country with the lowest number of phones in South Asia. Villagers
flock to Village phone ladies to use a mobile to call relatives, friends or business
associates, paying for calls by the minute. The Grameen scheme has been hailed as a
successful example of introducing technology to the poor. The mobile has literally
changed many village phone ladies life.
At present 32,000 village phones are in 52 districts, 50,000 Bangladeshi women making a
living as GrameenPhone ladies, as they are known. Thus emerged Bangladesh's
'telephone ladies,' who gained social importance-not to mention income-from selling
wireless service to fellow villagers. The women, whom power their phones with solar
panels, now make $500 per month, about the same amount as earned by the typical CEO
of a Bangladeshi bank a far cry from the annual average income of US$380. As for the
villagers, thanks to Dr. Yunis, there is no more traveling to the city to make phone calls.

38
There are few local companies engaged in hardware/software development for wireless
devices and networks. Recently few universities took initiative where courses in wireless
media being taught. As Bangladesh Telephony infrastructure is relatively poor, mobile
phone is creating huge impact especially among poor people in the village; good example
is Village Phone and Farmers. Rural areas are greatly benefiting from Mobile phone in
Bangladesh.
In the early 1990s, when Iqbal Quadir founder of Grameen Phone was looking for
investors to back his idea for a mobile-phone network in Bangladesh, he said an
executive at a cell-phone company in New York who told him, “We’re not the Red
Cross”. At the end of 2001 Quadir showed how Third World ventures can be profitable -
and provide a useful service - when GrameenPhone Ltd., made $27 million in pretax
profit.
GP turned that profit after just five years far sooner than many First World start-ups. "We
keep coming down to this basic challenge of the purchasing power of the poor," says
Peter Reiling, president and CEO of Techno-Serve, a nonprofit in Norwalk, Conn. It has
been seems that Mr. Iqbal Quadir try to found the perfect technology that's within their
reach. As a result it is easily observed that Bangladesh is a potential market for 13 million
mobile phones.
The number of cell phone users in Bangladesh still remains below five percent despite 85
percent annual growth of the industry over the last three years, said a senior official of a
leading telecom equipment vendor in Dhaka - The Daily Star news April 13, 2005.
There is still tremendous potential considering the fact that less than five percent of the
total population of 140 million uses cell phones, Olsson said, adding that the number of
mobile phone subscribers is expected to reach around six to eight million by 2006.
Ericsson has more than 70 percent market share in Bangladesh. Currently, the company
supplies GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications) gears to GrameenPhone Ltd
and Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh, the service provider of Aktel phone.
Again Ericsson's South East Asia President Mats H Olsson was speaking at a press
briefing organized to announce the appointment of Rafiah Ibrahim, a Malaysian, as its
new MD for Bangladesh. He also said there will be around two billion mobile phone
users worldwide by the end of 2008, and that around 80 percent of the growth will take

39
place in the emerging markets. Rafiah, who has 24 years of experience in the telecom
industry, said one of the key responsibilities of her company is to ensure that customers
in Bangladesh get maximum benefit from its global leadership, and focusing on Ericsson
Expander solutions, she said this is a unique offering for new high-growth areas.
From the above-mentioned Daily newspaper the researcher has observed that Bangladesh
still is an emergent market for telecommunication business and it is quickly developed.
So GP has to be more competitive to keep its competitive advantages, like network
coverage quality services, subscribers believes on GP as a sword to stay one step ahead
from other competitors.

4.1 Tele Situation in Bangladesh

Tele density of Bangladesh is still the lowest in South Asia. The Bangladeshi
telecommunication industry has been now facing global competition as different multi-
national telecommunication companies have been trying to penetrating into this market.
Hence, the existing phone companies have been loosing their competitiveness and
market-shares. To retain market-share, existing local companies have been pursuing to
fulfill the need gap of phone services in different regions of Bangladesh.

4.1.1 Privatization & Regulatory Structure of Telecommunication Services:

The Telecom sector of the country has been liberalized for private investment.
Bangladesh T&T Board provides all types of telecommunication services in urban and
rural areas while the mobile, paging and radio trunking services are offered by private
operators. Private operators were also given license to install and operate digital
exchanges in rural areas and they would install telephone exchanges in phases. Table-1
shows the list of the private operators.

40
 SL Name of the Operators
1 Pacific Bangladesh Telecom. Limited (PBTL)
2 Bangladesh Telecom (Pvt) Limited (BTL)
3 Bangladesh Rural Telecom Authority (BRTA)
Seba Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. (Recently acquired by
4
Orascom)
5 Telecom Malaysia International (BD) Ltd. (TMIB)
6 Grameen Phone (GP)
7 Orascom Telecommunication
8 Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. (TBL)
9 Warid Telecom
Table 6 - Private Telecom Operators in
Bangladesh

4.1.2 Market Growth:

At the initial stage of the mobile telecom industry because of high startup cost and high
tariff there was only a few numbers of subscribers. In 1997 there were approximately
23,000 mobile subscribers around the country with a low market penetration rate (.02%).
At present, the number of mobile users in the country is approximately 27.805 million
(summation of all GSM operator’s SIM & CDMA operators subscriber)Bangladesh has
four private companies and TeleTalk a sister concern of BTTB has entered in the market
with a target to get 0.25 million subscribers by first 6 months of launch and 1 million by
2006. TeleTalk has offered lower rate with PSTN connection all over the country. The
total number of districts covered in mobile industry has been increased to 61 in 2004
from 1 n 1997. The total telecom growth has increased to 55% in 2004 from 19% in
1998. Initially, mobile growth rate was too high which was 178% in 1998 and now it is
come into 100% in 2006 that means industry is now going to its maturity stage. From the

M
comparison of different operators’ subscriber base, it can be

41
 Fig 6: Comparison of subscriber number of mobile operator.

subscriber faster than citycell which .

(secondary Sources, Report of Grameen phone on “Customer Management Division” in
the year 2005 and primary source, field work from March 12 to June 12, 2007)

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Market
0.21% 0.53% 0.87% 1.88% 3.13% 3.72
Penetration 0.05% 0.10% 3.61%
Districts
2 26 36 40 49 59 61 61
Covered 61
Mobile
178% 96% 121% 149% 65% 116% 67%
Growth rate 120% 100%
Telecom
Growth 19% 17% 34% 66% 42% 40% 55% 65% 85%
Rate
Subscribers base
Grameen 1330000
30,000 60,000 191,690 471,371 775,310 1878,000 2424,177 6159111
Phone 0
Citycell 19,000 26,200 33,500 100,000 160,000 2250000 370,000 3500000 2000000
AkTel 12,000 28,500 34,200 96,000 150,000 300,000 1000,000 2800000 6000000
BanglaLink 3,000 11,000 19,000 27,000 60,000 70,000 100,000 1000000 5800000
TeleTalk - - - - - - - 60000 705000
Warid - - - - - - - - -

42
 Table 8: Development of the Telecom Market 1998-2006

The penetration rate of mobile phone industry in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly. The
rate was increasing slowly from 1997 to 1999. After that, the rate was increasing faster
and now till march” 07 the penetration rate is 3.72% .
Subscriber Base of Mobile Operators:
The mobile market consists of six mobile operators. Among them, GP holds 1,33,00000
AkTel 60,00000, CityCell 200000, BanglaLink 58,00000 and TeleTalk 705000.

4.1.3 Market Share of Operators:

The mobile phone market consists of six operators. Out of which, 61% share of the
market belongs to GP, 3% to CityCell, 22% to AkTel, 21%to Banglalink and the rest of
3% to TeleTalk as of may, 07. GP holding the major share maintains a ‘market leader’
strategy to all other players in the market. The telecom market intends to grow at
penetration rate of more than 3.48%; where GP has already penetrated at 2.12%.

Market Share of Mobile Operators

0%
3%
7%

21%

47%

22%

43
 Fig 8: Market shareof mobile phoneoperators

4.1.4 Awareness about Mobile Operators:

Top of mind (TOM)
awareness of Grameen Brand Awareness-Mobile (In %)

was found to be the 22

highest among users 81

93 8
(78%). Aktel position 78 3

(18%) is immediate
18 1
3 1 4
after this. Bangla Link 0.2

Akt Cityc Banglal Telet

GP
has got very low top of el ell ink alk

mind (TOM) Top of Mind Other spontaneous

Fig 09: Brand Awareness- Mobile (In %)

awareness- only 1%. But, the total awareness is high for all the mobile operators except
Teletalk.

4.1.5 Brand Usership: Fig 10 : Brand User- Mobile (In %)

Usership of Grameen
Phone is much higher 64 33
10 5
than that of other mobile
28
operators among all the 40
mobile users. Most of the
subscribers avail
themselves of mobile 86 71

44
Ever used Currentlyusing
GP A ktel C ityC ell
phone service from Grameen (71%). It is followed by Aktel (28%), CityCell (5%), and
Banglalink (3%), Teletalk (2%) The ever user ship is much higher for Grameen Phone
(86%) than the current user ship.

4.1.6 User Ship: Pre-Paid Vs. Postpaid:

Most of the mobile users have been found subscribers of pre-paid connections. The study
has found that 100% of the Bangla Link Fig : Usership Type
subscribers use pre-paid connections. (Prepaid vs Postpaid)

3
Percentages of pre-paid users are 97%, 94%, 6
12
and 88% for Grameen Phone, Aktel and City
100
97
Cell respectively. The highest post paid user 94
88
ship has been found among the City Cell users
(12%).
Prepaid Post paid
Fig 11 : Usership- Mobile (In %)
4.1.7 Reasons behind Using Pre-Paid Phones:
Most of the mobile users have been found subscribers of pre-paid connections. The
reasons behind using pre-paid mobile connections. ‘No hassle of bill payment’ has been
found to be the most mentioned reason by the pre-paid mobile users (84%). ‘Availability
of cards everywhere’ has been found the next mentioned reason by the prepaid mobile
users (12%). The scenario is quite similar in all four regions of Bangladesh.

Overall NE NW SE SW
No hassle in bill payment 84 90 76 87 77
Flexibility in recharge 36 20 32 39 49
Availability of cards everywhere 25 17 8 40 21
Easy to see my balance 11 12 4 14 10
Low expense 11 9 21 8 9
No monthly rent 10 7 4 19 4
I can talk through wireless phone 5 5 7 5 3
Availability of low value cards 3 2 5 3 3
I can talk during ‘my time’ 2 5 1 1 1

4.1.8 Reasons Behind Using Post -Paid Phones

Post paid mobile users have also mentioned reasons behind their preference. The major
reasons behind using post paid mobile connections. ‘Low call rate’ has been found to be

45
the most mentioned reason by the post-paid mobile users (74%). The scenario is almost
similar in all the four regions of Bangladesh.

Overall NE NW SE SW
83
Low Call Rate 74 40 71 100
67
Monthly payment 55 40 67 17
0
T&T Incoming 11 0 19 0
0
No Problem in card refilling 11 0 19 0

4.1.9 Number Of Calls Per Day

Nearly two-fifths of the subscribers have mentioned that on an average they receive less
than 5 calls per day (39%). Almost the same number of subscribers receives 5-7 calls per
day. Fig 11 : Num ber of calls- per day 59%

Regarding the outgoing calls, it should 38% 39%

31%
be mentioned that 59% of the
subscribers make less than 5 calls,
13%
while 31% make less than 5-7 calls
6% 3% 5%
2% 1%
per day. 3% 2%

A bo ve 16 14-16 11-13 8-10 calls 5-7 calls Less

calls c alls calls than 5
calls

Outgoing Incoming

Fig12 : Duration of per call

92% 94%
4.1.10 Duration Of Per Call
Majority of the subscribers (34%)
have reported that the duration of most
of their calls is less than 5 minutes.
6% 5%
1% 0% 1% 1%

Above10 8-10minutes 5-7minutes Less than 5

minutes minutes
Outgoing Incoming

46
 4.1.11 Reasons Behind Using Mobile Phone Service
Most of the users opined that they use phone service for personal reasons (52%).
However, about half of the respondents use for both personal and official/business related
reasons (44%).

4.1.12 Likes And Dislikes Of Different Phones

Two-thirds of Grameen phone users have responded that they like the network
availability. One-fifth of the users of Grameen phone have expressed that they like My
Time, My Easy Time, etc; whereas 46% of them dislike higher call rate of Grameen. Pulse
facilities given by Aktel liked by 31% of Aktel users while the and lower call rate is liked
by 24% of them. Lesser availability of the network (29%) and high call rate (22%) are the
key disliking factors to the Aktel users.
T&T phone users take T&T phone as a cheaper option than mobile phones. That the
phone can be used by all the members of the family is an important reason for preferring
T&T phone to mobile phone.
4.1.13 Degree Of Rivalry Among Established Firms
The rivalry among the established firms in the industry determines the profit rate in many
cases (Hill & Jones, 2001). In case of the mobile phone industry in Bangladesh, the
rivalry is quite high. The number of operators is still significantly low considering the
size of the market and demand for services. In this industry, PBTL is the pioneer. But it
has failed to grab the opportunity due to inertia and high exit barrier. PBTL is
handicapped by the CDMA technology, because using this technology means limited
options for handsets.
In Bangladesh, majority of the cell phone users are from the young generation who likes
to lead their life in dynamic styles. For this reason, they use GSM mobile phones which
are able to demonstrate thousands of alternative handsets with reasonable price ranges.
But CDMA technology is unable to do so because the cost of CDMA handsets is quite
higher than the GSM compatible handsets. So, PBTL is finding it quite difficult to
compete with the rivals. But still PBTL has been succeeded to capture quite a good
portion of the market share.
4.1.14 Bargaining Power Of Buyers

47
Bargaining power of buyers is comparatively low under certain conditions:
 Tellular customers have significantly low bargaining power
because of the high cost of procurement of a Tellular set. They
have to rely on PBTL for spare parts and other help.
 Users of low cost packages may switch from City Cell Digital to
other packages but only at a certain cost: that of cost of purchase.
In many cases it is seen that such customers run up bills equivalent
to or above their credit limit then abandon their City Cell Digital
number. In such cases the buyer’s bargaining power is higher.
In cases of packages like City Cell 500/1000 buyers have significantly less purchasing
power because of the high deposits paid to PBTL (Tk 1,000 for local T&T connections,
additional Tk 1,000 for NWD and Tk 2,500 for ISD connections). This significant
amount of investment means that customers cannot shift easily from one company to
another.
4.1.15 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers
Bargaining power of suppliers is high because:
 Suppliers provide CDMA sets that cannot be found easily from
another supplier
 Suppliers do not depend solely on City Cell for significant portion
of sales
 Products are not differentiated. However this has little effect on
over-all supplier power
 PBTL cannot vertically integrate backwards as it does not have the
capability to produce hardware whereas the primary suppliers may
buy a majority stake in PBTL
4.1.16 The Threat Of Substitute Products
For PBTL, the threat of substitute products is very real. Many customers prefer to use
GrameenPhone, AKTEL, and Teletalk or Banglalink connections above that of City Cell
Digital primarily for the network reach. There are also a number of other factors that
make City Cell Digital vulnerable to this aspect of the five forces method of analysis.
However it is notable that in case of packages are used for commercial use, PBTL has a

48
significant hold over customers. In case of Tellular packages, the rates being so low,
many clients prefer to stick with their City Cell Digital Tellular sets even after
experiencing technical and network problems. Moreover as the initial purchase of a City
Cell Digital set constitutes a significant investment – around Tk 15,000 all inclusive – an
owner of a Tellular set cannot easily substitute his or her product.
4.2 Market Development of Mobile Industry:

Since the introduction of mobile phones in August 1993, the telecom industry in
Bangladesh has undergone changes in different ways.

• Some of the constraining factors have not improved, as a result of which the
industry’s growth has been hampered.

• Many new entrepreneurs and large investors are taking interest in the mobile phone
industry.

• The airtime charges range from 4 to 3.3 Taka per minute (depending on the company
and type of use). There is little possibility that they will go down dramatically in the
near future.

• Start-up prices have gone down. GP is the pioneer in reducing the start-up cost, and
others are now following; e.g. in June 1998, a GP-GP subscription cost 12,900 Taka,
today that subscription cost Taka 4500 during campaign periods.

• New products are being introduced, GrameenPhone was also the first to launch the
prepaid service.

• The main obstacle to the growth of this industry is insufficient interconnection with
BTTB. Many potential clients are being discouraged to subscribe.

• Reasons for encouragement lies in the fact that people are finding mobile phones
more and more useful.

• The coverage area of mobile networks is also increasing rapidly.

• Mobile phone operators are providing 24-hour customer service.

49
• Knowledge about mobiles among the customers and also among the general people
has greatly improved.

• International advertisements on mobile communication in the mass media have

generated more interest and awareness. But this has also raised their expectations
from the service-providing companies.

• Competition has increased, providing the customers with more alternatives. Mobile
phones are becoming more useful and affordable day by day.

4.3 Impact of Porter’s Five Forces

The following discussion entails a brief industry analysis in terms of Michael Porter’s
five forces model (Porter, 1979).

4.3.1 The Risk Of Entry By Potential Competitors

To describe the risk of entry by potential competitors, brand loyalty is discussed in detail
considering as a vital aspect.

Brand Loyalty. Due to decreasing performance and slow progress in expansion of

network, City Cell Digital packages inspire less brand loyalty than before. However
potential new entrants to the industry will be deterred by the high brand loyalty to
GrameenPhone packages. Essentially it is believed that the total potential market has
been fulfilled by as much as three fourths and thus leaving a very small segment of
customers for new entrants to gain. High brand loyalty to GrameenPhone and the die-
hard users of the other three companies: Sheba, PBTL & AKTEL ensures that potential
entrants will be strongly discouraged by the high brand loyalty in current markets.

Absolute Cost Advantage and Economies of Scale. Current players have a more or less
absolute cost advantage because they have already invested in telecom infrastructure and
have recouped their investments. New companies will have to invest in equipment and
will take considerably greater time to cover initial equipment-purchase expenses.
Considering the size of the four companies already operating and the size of their
investments, they will not take kindly to an upstart in the industry and may use as many
competitive options as possible – price strategy, quality – to retain an upper hand.

50
Distribution Channel. Another major barrier to entry is the access to distribution
channels. With four companies competing in the current market environment, the
distributors of mobile phones are becoming very limited. Moreover, many retailers will
not want to carry more lines of mobile phone packages, as they have to sell the ones they
already have. Thus any increase in the number of companies will cannibalize into current
sales.

Government Regulations. In Bangladesh, the telecommunications market is still own

by the state-owned BTTB. They have already entered the mobile phone market. Thus
they will not take gently to allow new companies entering the industry. This may make
them influence the government to introduce new legislation designed to restrain the
business activities of new companies.

Chapter-5
5. Findings and Recommendation:
5.1 Findings:
In this report, I have discussed the present status of telecommunication industry in
Bangladesh, six major players of the telecommunication industry. I also thrashed out the
goals of mobile phone industry in Bangladesh. In addition, I discussed some strategies for
attracting new investment for the expansion in this sector.
Other important things I have included in the early part of my report are SWOT of
different operators and marketing mixes. So it has become easy for me to side out the
findings. Basing on the study major finings are as follows:
Teletalk started its operations 31st march, 2005. But in less than three year it has
achieved 0.8 million subscribers and hold a infinitesimal market share around 3 %. It was

51
found from the study that GP still is the market leader in the mobile phone industry and
they hold 47% market share. GP become the market leader not just because of numbers
but also for their good network coverage, better after sale service, customer
responsiveness, environmental friendly organization, value added service etc. Aktel is
also reaching GP and they hold 22. % market share. So among the six operators Aktel
and Banglalink are core competitors for GrameenPhone. CityCell and Teletalk market
shares are 7% and 3% respectively.
The industry average for satisfaction subscribers are average satisfied with their current
mobile connection line. GrameenPhone’s customer satisfaction level is higher than
industry average. So, GP is enjoying competitive advantages over the other competitors
in the mobile industry. Aktel is the next closed competitor for GP. Therefore GP has to
increase the satisfaction level to be one step a head from its competitors. Banglalink is
holding moderate position of customer satisfaction level whereas CITICELL and
TeleTalk are holding bellow average of customer satisfaction.
As a service organization, GP, Banlalink, Aktel, citycell are more concern about 7 P’S
i.e., product,price, place, promotion, person, physical evidence and process. Besides these
they have strong human resource department and fine corporate culture, in where
professionals and expertise have given emphasised on TQM(Toatal Quality
Management). But the scene is reverse for teletalk.
In contest of promotional activities GP, Banlalink, Aktel, citycell always keep themselve
ahead that actually boost up their brand awareness. But the matter of fact that Teletalk
has a very little number of advertisement.
Not only that teletalk is still far behaind from the other operators from the context of
value added service. The below mentiond discussion and analysis of the SWOT will
make the findings more clear:

5.2 SWOT Analysis of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd:

Analysis Of Strengths:
 Subscriber inclination to Teletalk as a government owned organization: People
have a deep inclination towards Teletalk Because subscribers have more confidence

52
 in the government institution. They think that they might get some extra benefit from
teletalk like lower call rate, optical fiber facilities etc. rather than other providers.
 Teletalk’s all connections are ISD & EISD: It’s a big strength of teletalk. It’s the
only SIM which has such a versatility of connections having ISD, Economy ISD
service along with both incoming and outgoing connectivity with any of the land
phones. This is not seen to other providers. It gives a tremendous competitive
advantage to the teletalk Bangladesh ltd over its respective competitors.
 Teletalk is the only indigenous company using GSM service: Teletalk is the only
local organization which is providing GSM technology in this country. The other
local organization named pacific telecom is providing CDMA technology which is
more expensive. So teletalk can take this advantage over its competitors.
 It has also provided incoming facility up to 2015: Teletalk have a strong strength
over its competitors incase of incoming facility. Teletalks present incoming duration
is up to 20015. Which is 20 times more than other competitors?

 From the very beginning it is providing free TNT incoming: Teletalk is the only
provider which is providing T&T incoming free from the very beginning. Whether
other operators providers providing such kind of facility just now.
 Moreover its contribution to our economy can be notable: As a Govt. owned
company teletalk have a strong contribution in our national economy. Its one of the
high profit generating Govt. organization in Bangladesh.
 Low cost provider: The most remarkable success of Teletalk is the slump in tariff
structure. It is the lowest cost provider in Bangladesh telecommunication market. As
soon as teletalk announced its tariff the long lasting oligopoly between other private
mobile providers were shattered. Healthy competition came into the mobile market.
Analysis of Weaknesses
 Premature entrance in mature market:The biggest weakness was a premature entrance
in a mature market. As soon as anyone could catch hold of a Teletalk mobile, he
started comparing it with the services of Grameen, Banglalink or Aktel.

53
 Lower number of human resource: The number of employee of teletalk is too much
lower regarding its requirement. As a result the service quality and customer
satisfaction go down.
 Failed to identify difference between developed market and developing market:
Teletalk failed to identify the difference between developed market and developing
market. There strategy making is not match with the current situation.
 Lower promotional activities: The promotional campaign of teletalk is not too much
strong like other providers of Bangladesh as result consumers are less aware about
teletalk and its package.
 Weak management system: poor coordination among different functional department
of Teletalk as result service efficiency goes down.
 Poor marketing: The overall marketing activities of Teletalk is not much rich like
other competitors.
 Lower number of value added service: Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. is providing a less
number of value added service to its subscriber regarding its competitors. As a result
subscribers are becoming dissatisfied on the Teletalk service. The comparison of
value added services of different operators are mention below. Where as Teletalk
providing less number of value added service.
 The progress of development of network is far below from the subscriber expectation:
the expansion of network coverage is too much slow. People thought that teletalk
should use the BTTB’s network facilities; as a result teletalk can cover the most of
the area of Bangladesh. But in reality this is not true.
 High connection charge: The SIM price of teletalk is too many high packages from
the other operators, having similar facilities offered by teletalk, are available at 3 to 4
times less price than that of teletalk. It is totally unjustifiable to charge subscriber
such an astounding price for having a SIM of a network which doesn’t have
satisfactory level of coverage.
Analysis of Opportunities
 Teletalk can use the image of local and government owned organization: General
people have a deep inclination to the govt. owned organization especially to the local

54
 organization. People want to keep the money into own country. So teletalk can use
such kind of soft corner of consumers and promote the service to them.
 Introduction of new technology and services: Teletalk can implement new and
consumer oriented technology in this sector. Because people have inclination to new
and modern technology. Now a day’s people are ready to accept the new thing.
 Expand the market in the rural area: Till now there is huge area is remain out of
coverage where a huge number of target consumers are available. So teletalk can
bring that respective area under coverage and catch those potential consumers.
 Teletalk can use the experience of BTTB: BTTB one of the old and experience
organization in Bangladesh telecommunication sector. They have special experience
about the consumer behavior of Bangladesh. They know about the consumer’s need
and want. So teletalk can take help from the BTTB about this matter and implement
those criteria in the competitive market. Which things, give teletalk competitive
advantage over its respective competitors.
 Teletalk can use softswitch network: The softswitch network separates the bearer and
control layers and a softswitchcentric network can be built on different types of
bearer networks such as TDM, IP and ATM unlike, legacy network that depend on a
single specific switching technology. Based on strategic planning and the
developmental phase, an operator can select suitable bearer mode technologies for
different phases, from the perspective of long term sustainable development, the IP
centered softswitch network defines the future. So teletalk can use this technology
and practice competitive advantage over rivals.
Analysis of Threats
 An upcoming mobile service provider named WARID TELECOM a concern of
Dhabi group: At present Bangladeshi mobile sector is almost saturated , after that a
new company named WARID is going to starts its operation in Bangladesh which
going to become a big threats to teletalk and other operators.
 The invention of technology which is new modern and consumer oriented:
Technology is changing with day run. It changes the consumer’s demand pattern by
offering different attractive features. As a result consumer shifts from one technology
to other technology, which might create a big problem to teletalk and others.

55
 Another invisible threat is land phone operator: In Bangladesh land phone operator is
expand the market with day run. People are switch from mobile to land phone
operators. As a result ultimately the number of mobile user is decreasing and create
problem to the mobile operators as well as teletalk.

5.3 Recommendations:

It was found that few operators in the market are trying to meet the growing demand of
the city dwellers need for communication. For the high demand of the mobile phone there
are many unmeet demand are waiting to acquire. Teletalk has to run to meet those
demand of customers by providing the product and services at an affordable and minimal
price.
People are gradually becoming informed about the value of information and understand
the fact that timely access to the right information slants the balance of market
information in their favor. As self-employment and market orientation is increasing
among people, information is playing an even greater and more important role in their
day-to-day life. Therefore, governments of developing countries in general and
Bangladesh in particular, have to address this issue of increased basic telecommunication
connectivity to keep its population in the fast track of economy.
I believe the strategies and policies about financial planning of telecommunication
infrastructure projects, technological choice, and social, political, legal and cultural
support might help achieve the goals. Finally I have suggested few points to make
telecommunication industry healthy:

• Promote competition and investment by private firms.

• Ensure access to advanced services in rural and high-cost areas.

• Ensure access to advanced services for schools and libraries.

• Provide and promote education of what telecommunications and

information services can do and how to use them.

56
There were three reasons behind the inception of TeleTalk. First, for govt. it was
troublesome to control the total mobile phone service market. The price of SIM and call
rate were sky touching. Scratch card validity was only for 21 days and it was very pain
full for general subscriber. The industry’s character was monopolistic and people had
been expecting for T&T incoming and outgoing mobile phone. Second reason was people
were expecting a Govt. phone into their hand because it seems to them very reasonable in
price. And third reason was for Govt. to invest in profitable sector.

In present scenario all those objective has been achieved. But TeleTalk,s has only three
percent market share and this rate is not stable and sometimes downward Teletalk has a
threat of price war from its competitors. In fact, mobile telecommunication industry has
tremendous competition. All operators are coming up with different attractive products
and services. So, it has to consider the following point to be a healthy market share holder
in future:

1) Strengthening the network system.

2) Expand the coverage as soon as possible.

3) Launch less product rather than multiple products at tie.

4) Add value to particular product.

5) Reduce the call charge.

6) Tariff should be user-friendly and comprehensive.

7) Billing system should be improved.

8) Improve the standard of advertisement.

9) Advertisement should be more appealing.

10) Spend money wisely to minimize the cost which leads to maximize the
profit.

5.4 Conclusion:
Telephone helps people work together, raising their productivity. This gain in
productivity is development, which in turn enables them to afford a telephone service,
generating a good business. Thus development and business go together.The number of

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mobile phone subscriber hit 22 million up to march 31, 2007 from 11 million a year ago
(Asian Development Bank). There was 100% telecom growth in the last year. And the
number of subscribers would be doubled to 44 million in next two years. The investment
of mobile phone operation is 3.4 billion dollars. Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is the first
government owned private cellular operator in Bangladesh.
Teletalk Bangladesh ltd introduce in 2005. When service came with lower tariff was the
strong path to influence people about the new service. In that time Teletalk followed a
smooth marketing strategy. Teletalk formed a cheap rate for the first time in Bangladesh.
Teletalk maintains relation ship marketing policy as well. So that there sales volume is
more then others. At a time Teletalk takes also better position in consumer mind by its
quality, attractive tariff plan etc.
I gather some essential information from my survey that has needed to improve in some
sector like network coverage, marketing strategy, promotional activities etc.
Report on SWOT analysis and tele situation of Bangladesh is the part of our credit course
of BBA Program. I learn so many things from this report about Teletalk Bangladesh its
service nature, its distributors, retailers, consumers and its overall marketing condition in
communication sector. This report will assist me to build up a better career in the job
section.
Reference:

1. Marketing Management, 11e, Philip Kotler

2. Business for the 21st Century, 2003 by Steven J Skinner, John M. Ivancevich.

3. " Taking the measuring of Quality, " Service Savvy, March 1992, p.3

4. Report on “Mobile phones are everywhere” and The business section of The
Daily NEWAGE, Friday, may 18,2007,p.7.

5. Special feature of The Daily Prothom Alo on “2nd Anniversary Teletalk

Bangladesh Limited” Saturday, march 31 ,2007, p.18.

6. “Main story” and interview of “Mobile personality” of Monthly Magazine “THE

MOBILE” April 2007 p.7,17-19.

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 7. Report of Grameen phone on “Customer Management Division” in the year 2005
page 1-18.

8. Report of TeleTalk on “SERVICE PROMOTION POLICY OF TELETALK BANGLADESH

LIMITED” in the year 2006.

9. Website
• www.google.com
• www.teletalk.com.bd
• www.iutworldtelecommunication.com
• www.grameenphone.com
• www.banglalinkgsm.com
• www.citycell.com
• www.waridtel.com.bd
• www.aktel.com

01) Amplifications of some noticeable abbreviations:

SIM - Subscriber Identification Module

ADB - Asian Development Bank
CDMA - Code Division Multiple Application
GSM - Global System Mobile.
BTTB - Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone board.
DSE - Dhaka Stock Exchange

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