Word: bangladesh
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...more than tripled since the start of 2004. These food-price increases combined with soaring energy costs will slow if not stop economic growth in many parts of the world and will even undermine political stability, as evidenced by the protest riots that have erupted in places like Haiti, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. Practical solutions to these growing woes do exist, but we'll have to start thinking ahead and acting globally...
Asia's less developed cell-phone markets soon became targets. The company launched into Bangladesh's fledgling sector in 1997 convinced, says Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor's CEO, that "mobile communications are as important in this kind of society as in Scandinavia." Once Grameenphone, its business in Bangladesh, was up and running, Telenor sought fresh openings in markets offering rapid growth, and gradually accrued controlling stakes in local Thai and Malaysian operators. When Pakistan invited bids for a license to operate from 2005, Telenor jumped at the chance...
...brighter. Subscriber numbers at Grameenphone swelled by 53% last year to 16.5 million, giving the firm half the market. In Pakistan, Telenor's user numbers more than doubled. (Back in Norway, the customer base grew by just 5%.) Yet fewer than 50% of Pakistanis own a cell phone; in Bangladesh, the rate is even lower...
...realizing potential in emerging markets doesn't come cheap. Picking up new subscribers in low-penetration markets like Pakistan means beefing up network capacity and extending coverage into new, often rural, areas. Groundwork like that established across Pakistan and Bangladesh has already cost Telenor some $3 billion in the last three years, according to Handelsbanken. So while "we invest, and grab as much revenue as possible," says Telenor Pakistan's Johnsen, "we can't imagine that we will recover our initial investment any time soon." Powerful companies like China Mobile have recently joined Telenor in Pakistan, and Egypt's Orascom...
...rough-and-tumble of emerging market politics can pose risks for firms like Telenor. Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh have all experienced political turmoil in recent years, but that has posed less trouble than unexpected tax increases. Operators were forced to subsidize a 2005 levy imposed on the sale of SIM cards in Bangladesh, for instance. And in Grameenphone's case, work with its local partner hasn't always been straightforward for Telenor. The Norwegian firm owns 62% of Grameenphone, with Grameen Telecom - part of the bank founded by Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus - owning the rest. Yunus claims...