Bangladesh’s Grameenphone eyes entry as third Telco
Citing the Philippine market’s good potential, Grameenphone, a joint venture of Norway’s Telenor and Bangladesh-based Grameen Telecom Corp., expressed interest to join the bidding as the new major player in the Philippine Telecommunications industry controlled by the duopoly of Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT Inc. Shanshil Ahmed Shibly, deputy director regional operations and head of technology division of Grameenphone, said the Philippine market is dominated by young customers which would further buoy its business. Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh with over 58 million subscribers and 54% market share. The company is 55.8% owned by Telenor while Grameen Telecom holds 34.2% as of December 2017. Gamaliel Cordoba, commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission, said the bid documents could be purchased for PHP1 million each from the agency starting Oct. 6. The submission and opening of the bids are set for Nov. 5 this year.
