The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Siemens Bangladesh Limited signed contracts on November 28, 2007 for 33 kV substations with subsidiaries of Summit Power Ltd for their three 33MW capacity Power Plants at Rupganj of Narayanganj and Jangalia of Comilla under Summit Purbanchal Power Company Ltd and Maona of Gazipur under Summit Uttaranchal Power Company Ltd.

A.N.M. Tariqur Rashid, Executive Director, as signed the contracts on behalf of Summit Purbanchal Power Company Ltd and Saiful Alam, Executive Director, signed on behalf of Summit Uttaranchal Power Company Ltd.

Hubertus Buesten, Director, Power Division of Siemens Bangladesh Ltd set his hand both the contracts on behalf of his company.

Latif Khan, Director of Summit Group, Tauhidul Islam, Managing Director of Summit Power Ltd, Dr. Mirza Khairuzzaman, Sr. Executive Director of Summit Power Ltd, Tarik Al-Shomer, Head of Commercial, Power Division of Siemens Bangladesh Ltd and other high officials were present during the signing of the contracts.

Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), the holding company of Banglalink recently announced its 3rd quarter financial results for 2007. Banglalink ended the quarter (as of September 2007) with over 60 lacs subscribers, and posted a year-to-date revenue of Tk. 926 crore (USD 133 million). Banglalink's subscriber base and revenue have more than doubled over the past 12 months as the subscriber base was 27 lacs and revenue was Tk. 440 crore (USD 62.6 million) for the same period last year.

Revenue for the 3rd quarter (Jul-Sep 2007) was almost Tk. 385 crore (USD 56 million). Banglalink has thereby consolidated its number 2 position in the market in revenue terms. While other major players in the market have been experiencing stagnant revenues and declining ARPUs over the past few quarters, Banglalink has been maintaining a healthy upward trend. This substantial growth is based on the overwhelming response to Banglalink's products and services, and is fuelled by heavy infrastructure investment that amounts to Tk. 1,607 crore (USD 232 million) during the first three quarters.

'We have been investing heavily to enhance the level of our service both in terms of network quality as well as customer service. This year, we have been very aggressive in our network roll out while concentrating mainly on enhancing indoor coverage. To provide better customer service, a new, expanded, state of the art call center has also been established.' said Chief Executive Officer Rashid Khan. 'We have also set-up Banglalink service points all over the country and by the end of the year, we will have over 500 locations all around the country for providing customer service.' He added.

Since the beginning of this year, Banglalink has added over 27 ak subscribers to its base till September 2007. This is the second highest share of net additions in the industry. Banglalink has thereby consolidated its position and increased overall market share to 18.9% at the end of Q3 2007 compared to 15.3% as of Q3 2006.

'We have always been a customer oriented organization and constantly providing customers with innovative and affordable products is our key objective. The fact that we have been consistently getting the second highest share of customers proves that our strategy has been effective.' said Rashid Khan.

Commenting on the growth potential of the market, Khan said 'The market is expected to grow to over 5 crore mobile connections by end of 2008. We will continue to invest heavily in infrastructure to ensure the best quality service for our customers.'

Krishi Bank Managing Director M. Fazlul Haque started a comprehensive tour programme from last Saturday in the cyclone-hit southern areas of the country with a view to monitoring on-going post-cyclone Agricultural Rehabilitation Programme on the bank. During this tour programme, he will visit the worst affected areas, will give necessary instructions to the bank executives engaged in the rehabilitation programme and he himself will disburse loans to the affected farmers of the tormented areas.

He will also discuss various aspects of the rehabilitation programme with the officials of the tour programme, he himself disbursed huge amount of loans to the affected farmers in the command areas of Gournadi, Agailjhara, Mahilara, Raipasha branches under Barisal Region on Saturday and did the same in the command areas of Jhalkathi, Galua, Rajapur, Kathalia branches under Jhalakathi Region on Sunday. His visit created enthusiasm among the farmer community of the areas. This intensive tour programme of BKB Managing Director will continue upto 05 December.

The 7th Annual General Meeting of Crystal Insurance Company Limited was held on Tuesday the 27th November at 11-00 A.M. at company's Corporate Office, Lal Bhaban (10th Floor), 18, Rajuk Avenue, Motijheel, Dhaka.

The meeting was presided over by Abdullah Al-Mahmmud (Mahin), Chairman of the company which was also attended, among others, by the directors, shareholders and Managign director.

The meeting approved the Directors' Report and Audited Accounts of the company for the year ended 31st December, 2006. It also approved appointment of the Auditors for 2007. The meeting reviewed the performance of the company during the year 2006 and, expressed satisfaction' over its performance. The chairman thanked all the executives, officers and members of the staff of the company for their sincere & devoted services because of which the company could achieve this height of its success.

Grameenphone Ltd. recently signed an agreement with Computer Source Ltd. to provide Grameenphone subscribers special discounts on different ICT products.

Under the agreement, all Grameenphone subscribers may enjoy 5 pc discount on HP Desktop PCs, Notebook PCs and Handheld devices (PDA), Fujitsu Notebook PCs, Lexmark Inkjet, Laser and all in one printers, Avermedia Internal, external and USB TV Cards, CSM Desktop PCs, Pen drives (CSM and other brands), MP3 and MP4 players, Philips: Monitors, Prolink UPSs, Micro lab Sound Systems, Woofers, subwoofers, and IPODs etc., from any branch of Computer Source Ltd.

Fahad Saleh, Manager, Alliance Management-thankyou program, Grameenphone Ltd. and Asif Mahmud, Executive Director, Computer Source Ltd., signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.