VEON Group CEO expects double-digit revenue growth in Bangladesh

Kaan Terzioğlu, group chief executive officer (CEO), VEON Group, expects a double-digit revenue growth in Bangladesh in the coming years. The announcement was made at VEON’s Investor Day event attended by the chief CEOs of operating companies owned by VEON, including Erik Aas, chief executive officer, Banglalink. It was held in the presence of investors, analysts and media professionals from different regions of the world.

Increasing use of smartphones, along with the increasing reach and use of 4G, creates incredible growth opportunities in blue ocean countries such as Bangladesh, according to the VEON Group CEO. He also noted that the large young population, scalable environment together with the demand for mobile internet, financial services and entertainment services are encouraging opportunities which will allow the company to serve customers in Bangladesh even better.

During the event, Erik Aas, Banglalink’s CEO, stated that Banglalink established an essential capex commitment for the upcoming two to three years, and this will support Banglalink’s in rolling out nationwide competitive 4G coverage. With its spectrum advantage, Banglalink will be able to provide its customer base with quality data products.

Banglalink’s revenue market share is also anticipated to converge towards its spectrum market share of 25 per cent, he added.

Banglalink’s performance in the digital service sector has been remarkable in recent years. Its most prominent digital service is the video streaming app called Toffee, which has remained as the top entertainment app in Bangladesh for 83 consecutive weeks.

Banglalink has also launched other digital services targeting key areas such as music, education, gaming, health, ad-tech and self-service. Besides, Banglalink has seen rapid growth of 4G-enabled customers. In the last quarter, Banglalink reported that some 33 per cent of its customers used 4G while the total customer-base grew by 63 per cent year on year, and approximately 40 per cent of them are multi-play customers.

While discussing Banglalink’s progress, Aas said, “Banglalink has already established its identity as a front runner in the countries digital market, and has a lot to offer in the future. We are currently focusing on expanding our strong 4G network across the country so that all of our customers from every region can benefit from it. With the highest amount of spectrum per customer, we will fulfill this objective soon and will reinforce our position further in the market.”