2023 was an excellent year for Robi. Revenue make a record 16 per cent leap. Profits went up by 74 per cent. How was this possible?
Rajeev Sethi: Records are not really important. Companies with growing businesses make records in their revenue every year. What is significant is that the pace of Robi's business growth was considerably good in 2023. The revenue and profit growth in 2023 was the highest in its 27 years. The growth Rabi achieved in 2023 has been the highest in Bangladesh's telecom sector. From the facts and figures received so far regarding the mobile operators in the Asia and Pacific region, Robi has had the highest growth.
What are the factors behind this performance, do you think?
Rajeev Sethi: Actually this is the result of continued efforts. We have improved our network extensively. I can assert that Robi now has the best network when it comes to both talking as well as using the internet. That is a major reason for doing so well. We have made the internet and minute packages easy and user friendly. We have tried to offer packages according to the subscribers' liking. We have done well in branding too. A new branding initiative 'parbe tumio' has been taken up. The good business is a culminated result of all these initiatives.
As the new managing director and CEO you seem to have a magic wand!
Rajeev Sethi: No, no, a CEO doesn't have the magic to do anything. We did this all together as a concerted effort.
Now for not such a pleasant question. Robi has been in business since 1997, but can't rake in the profits like its competitors. Why?
Rajeev Sethi: There are several reasons. It is a game of numbers and reach. The more subscribers that you have, the more revenue you will get, the more profits you will earn. Higher number of subscribers means lower operational costs per subscriber. It is hard in the present condition of the telecom sector for smaller operators to increase their profits. All over the world various measures are taken to protect the smaller players. This matter was discussed in Bangladesh too a few years ago, but no effective action has been taken. It is not just a matter of any operator's profit or loss. It is the subscribers who stand to lose if there is a monopoly in the market.
You've worked in Bangladesh's telecom sector before too. What is your assessment of this sector's rules, regulations, policies and so on?
Rajeev Sethi: There are many ways to answer this question. One is, this country's telecom sector is attractive for investment because the population density is high, which is advantageous for setting up telecommunications infrastructure. A large section of this country's population is youth. They want new experiences. There are very few homes with broadband connections. All this is conducive for the telecom sector. But taxes are extremely high in the telecom sector in this country. If we get 100 taka, we have to pay 56 taka to the government coffers. In neighbouring countries this is half. There is no single licence to provide telecom services at different levels. So even if a company wants to, it can't provide all services itself. It has to depend on the tower company. This creates problems. It affects not only costs, but the quality of service too.
Smartphones should be made more affordable in order to increase the use of internet. Smartphones are very costly in this country. Local companies are now manufacturing smartphones. It should be seen how the price of smartphones can be lowered
You are an Indian national living in Bangladesh. Which country's network quality is better?
Rajeev Sethi: That depends on the benchmark you are using. I can say that the network quality I get in Dhaka is far better than that in Delhi.
But the people here in Bangladesh complain about the quality of service. There are particular gripes about not getting network at home, call drops, etc. What is your take on this?
Rajeev Sethi: Actually, if you get good service, you do not feel the need to write about this on social media. It is when you don't get good service that you write about this on Facebook. That is very natural. Millions of calls are made every day and it is only natural that there will be a few call drops among these. These are radio waves where there is no scope for 100 per cent perfection. You have to check whether the call drops are exceeding the international and local limits. Robi's call drop rates are 0.30. This is the lowest in the country. But we spare no efforts to improve our service. We are trying to set up towers in certain problematic places such as Ukhia in Cox's Bazar. But setting up a tower is a challenging task. We don't get the required land.
Don't you need to increase towers in Dhaka too?
Rajeev Sethi: Absolutely. We have equipment to set up around 600 towers lying idle in our warehouse. We aren't getting the space. We are in discussion with the regulatory authorities and the tower companies. It would be good if towers could be shared. We are looking in that direction.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 31 per cent of the country's population uses internet. What can be done to increase this further?
Rajeev Sethi: Most of the people in Bangladesh use the internet on their smartphones. Smartphones should be made more affordable in order to increase the use of internet. Smartphones are very costly in this country. Local companies are now manufacturing smartphones. It should be seen how the price of smartphones can be lowered.
The government is talking about using hi-speed internet service 5G. Are the operators ready, is there a demand for 5G in the market?
Rajeev Sethi: If you are asking about the operators, I would say we are ready for 5G. As for the market, that is a different matter. 5G will not give the general subscriber a very different experience. 5G will give the same experience as subscribers have in watching movies on internet. It is the industrial sector and the service sector that needs 5G. It must be seen how far automation has been introduced in these sectors.
Robi recently opened up two subsidiary companies, Axentec and r-ventures. Why?
Rajeev Sethi: These are basically to provide service to business establishments. Revenue is still low from this sector. But services will increase in the future and so will revenue. It is with the future in mind that a new company has been formed and a new CEO appointed. Revenue in such business has multiplied in neighbouring countries.
Is Robi speculating on releasing more shares in Bangladesh's share market?
Rajeev Sethi: This is the jurisdiction of the board of directors. But as far as I know, this is not on the cards.
If you are given the responsibility to open a new company, which country would you be interested to invest in? I would mention the names of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Africa here since these are places you have experience of working in.
Rajeev Sethi: Each country has different opportunities and plus points. But given the prevailing circumstances, I definitely would not go to Myanmar.
What points would you bring forward if asked about the bottlenecks and prospects of investing in Bangladesh?
Rajeev Sethi: Investors want continuity in policies as this makes planning easier. They do not want sudden changes in the government's investment-related policies. If anything changes overnight, the investors get alarmed. There is need for third party dispute resolution in business. Normally the court carries out this task. An impartial judicial system is essential for investment. If you want to choose a country to invest in the telecom sector, that would be Bangladesh. There are a lot of advantages of investing in this country.
What would you say about the people of Bangladesh?
Rajeev Sethi: I love Bangladesh. The people here are very friendly. They are interested to know, to learn. They love cricket. There is a lot of talent in this country of which the world is still unaware. We did a talent search in the digital sector and found amazing young talents. They are not like me, 40 to 50 years old. They are 25, 30-year-old young people. They need a proper platform to display their talent.
Rajeev Sethi
Rajeev Sethi took over as Robi Axiata managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) in October 2022. Prior to that, he had been with the mobile operator Ooredoo in Myanmar. Before that he was the chief commercial officer (CCO) of Airtel Africa. He has held top positions in Vodaphone, HP, Hutchison Telecom, Asian Paints and other companies.
Rajeev Sethi has an MBA degree in marketing, finance and operations from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow, India.
Sethi is not new in Bangladesh. He has served here as the CEO of GrameenPhone.
Robi at a glance
The Malaysia-based Axiata Group Berhad owns 61.82 per cent of Rabi's shares. India's Bharti Airtel owns 28.18 per cent of the shares and Bangladesh's general shareholders own 10 per cent of the shares.
In 1997, Telecom Malaysia and Bangladesh's AK Khan and Company jointly launched this under the Aktel brand name.
In 2008 AK Khan and Company sold their shares. In 2010 the name was changed from Aktel and Robi began its venture.
* This interview appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir