Bharti Airtel is set to pay out Warid Telecom's liabilities of Tk 231 crore to local financial institutions as part of its investment plan that includes massive network expansion.
Warid's new partner presented its investment plans in response to the telecom regulator's orders and said it is ready to start operations in Bangladesh in a month, said Zia Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), yesterday.
Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom giant, announced a deal in January to acquire a 70 percent stake in Warid Telecom, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Abu Dhabi Group.
The company also announced a plan to invest Tk 2,100 crore ($300 million) initially, which will increase to Tk 7,000 crore ($1 billion) later.
BTRC approved the acquisition move, asking Bharti to submit its investment plan by February 4.
"We wanted to make sure the investment flows from Bharti to Bangladesh," said the BTRC chief. "Bharti submitted their plan in time."
Warid had taken Tk 300 crore ($43 million) under a term loan agreement by a syndication of 22 local financial organisations.
Later, Warid further borrowed Tk 148 crore ($21 million), said officials of the financial institutions that provided loans to the company.
The debt burden of Warid, the fourth largest mobile operator, has come down to Tk 231 crore after some paybacks.
Bank officials said the local financial institutions have already received assurance from Bharti and Warid that all loans will be repaid soon.
Bharti also registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) last month and took the name Airtel Bangla Limited to run commercial operations in Bangladesh, under the brand name of Airtel.
"Warid Telecom International Ltd will be renamed Airtel Bangla Limited. The company already received permission to use the new name," said Ahmedur Rahim, registrar of RJSC.
Warid made its Bangladesh debut in May 2007 and roped in 2.99 million subscribers until December last year.
Grameenphone is the market leader in the 52.43 million mobile market with 23.26 million customers, followed by Bangalink with 13.87 million and AKTEL with 9.29 million.
Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd launched the first mobile service in Bangladesh in 1993 with CDMA (code division multiple access) technology. The costly mobile service later came to the mass with introduction of the comparatively cheaper GSM (global system for mobile communications) technology.
The market has become a tough place for the bottom three operators since 2005 as the top three operators grabbed more than 90 percent of market share in the meantime, waging a stiff price war.
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