Viettel buys into Bangladesh

A Bangladesh Telecommunications Ministry spokesman said on last Thursday Vietnam’s military-run Viettel will buy shares of Bangladesh’s state-run mobile phone company Teletalk.

Viettel plans to invest US$250 million in Teletalk, spokesman Shafeyet Hossain told Vietnam News Agency.

He said if an agreement is reached between the two sides, Viettel will invest in Teletalk without taking profits for the first three years.

As it does in Vietnam, Viettel will provide free Internet connection services for schools in Bangladesh. It will also set up 19,500 telecom signal receivers, install 50,000 km of optical cables, put 3G technology into operation and provide Internet services for 3.5 million customers.

By the end of September, 2009, nearly 49 million mobile phone users were reported in Bangladesh. Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd, established in December 2004, manages 1.08 million subscribers.

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