BTRC to hold public hearing on Robi-Airtel merger on Feb 17

The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will hold a public hearing on Feb 17 on the merger of mobile phone operators Robi and Airtel in Bangladesh.

BTRC Senior Assistant Director SM Golam Sarwar made the announcement through a press release on Sunday.

A public hearing involving all stakeholders, including subscribers’ associations, will be held on that date to settle the merger issue.

Those keen to take part must apply online by Feb 8, filling in a form downloaded from the BTRC website (www.btrc.gov.bd).

Those selected will be informed on Feb 15 about the place and time of the hearing.

Individuals and establishments can also send their views on the merger by writing to the BTRC chairman by Feb 17.

Robi Axiata Ltd announced, after signing the merger deal on Thursday, that the new company would operate under the name Robi.

The merger would take the combined customer strength to around 40 million, almost a quarter of Bangladesh’s total mobile users.

Grameenphone, with 50 million subscribers, is currently the country’s largest mobile-phone operator.

The two companies had begun exploring merger possibilities in Bangladesh in September last year.

The Malaysia-based Axiata Group owns Robi, while Airtel is owned by India’s Bharti Airtel.

Axiata is among the world’s major telecom companies, with operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Singapore.

According to the BTRC, out of Bangladesh’s altogether 130 million mobile phone users, Robi had 20.83 million subscribers and Airtlel 10.71 million.