World Bank Group offers 99 mln USD loan to Bangladesh's third largest cell phone operator

The World Bank's private sector lending arm International Finance Corporation or IFC will provide 99 million U.S. dollars to Bangladesh's third largest cell phone operator Robi Axiata Limited (Robi) to expand its telecom network and build new telecommunication infrastructure networks in the country.

The long-term loan facility will enable Robi to improve public access to affordable and reliable telecommunication services by increasing capacity and extending coverage, particularly in rural and underserved areas, the operator said in a statement received here on Monday.

It said a significant portion of the debt financing will be channeled toward augmenting coverage and capacity in Robi's 3.5G mobile network.

Supun Weerasinghe, Robi's managing director and chief executive officer, and M Rehan Rashid, IFC's senior country officer, signed an agreement on behalf of their respective organizations in this connection recently.

Robi, a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia (92 percent) and NTT DoCoMo Inc of Japan (8 percent), said this agreement indicates its growing stature in the country. It said the loan also enables Robi to have the optimum capital structure having local and foreign loans in addition to shareholders contribution.

"Robi is indeed grateful to IFC for their confidence in our business," said Supun Weerasinghe.

"We believe that it also reflects the confidence of the international community such as World Bank, on the future of Bangladesh. Robi, as a leading mobile operator underpinned by Axiata vision of advancing Asia, always invests responsibly in our network to deliver best value experience for our subscribers. This partnership with IFC is a further endorsement of this vision and our commitment towards corporate governance and corporate responsibility."

IFC's Senior Country Officer M. Rehan Rashid said Robi clearly stands out in the mobile telecom industry as an operator upholding the principles of a responsible corporate entity.

"We find the operator honoring its commitment unfailingly towards sustainable growth of the economy while undertaking customer centric market initiatives. IFC is particularly impressed with the robust corporate governance framework the company has put in place to sustain its business and, is very happy to form a partnership with Robi," he said.

"We also understand that this financing support will help the company develop its telecom infrastructure in the far flung parts, taking the country a step closer to the complete realization of 'Digital Bangladesh.'"

Bangladesh attaches great importance to mobile communications to minimize the digital divide and increase digital inclusion in an impoverished country of 153 million people.

The total number of Bangladesh's mobile phone subscribers reached nearly 132 million at the end of October with additional 11.65 million new users in the first 10 months of the year, statistics of the country's telecom regulator showed Sunday.

According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the number of subscribers of the six mobile operators, Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi Axiata, Airtel, Teletalk and Citycell at the end of October stood at 55.896 million, 32.599 million, 28.288 million, 9.982 million, 4.141 million and 1.089 million respectively, the BTRC data showed. Endit