Sajjad Chowdhury

Robi Axiata Limited

Robi Axiata Limited (Robi) is a subsidiary company of the Asian telecom giant, Axiata Group Berhad, based in Malaysia. The other shareholder in the entity is Bharti Airtel International (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Robi is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh with 46.88 Mn subscribers as of end of December 2018. The company commenced operation in 1997 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name ‘Aktel'. In 2010, it was rebranded as ‘Robi' and the company changed its name to Robi Axiata Limited. Following the merger with Airtel Bangladesh, the merged company, Robi Axiata Limited (Robi) started its commercial operation on 16 November 2016. As of now, this is the biggest ever merger of the country and first ever merger in the mobile telecom sector of Bangladesh. Robi was the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in the country. It is the first company to launch 4.5G service in all the 64 districts of the country. In fact, this landmark milestone was achieved on the first day of the commercial launch of the service by Robi on 20 February 2018. By the end of 2018, Robi created the largest 4.5G network of the country with nearly 7,400 sites covering 99 per cent of the thanas of the country. Robi also proudly claims to have the widest international roaming coverage with 398 operators across 182 countries with widest 4G roaming footprint in 29 countries with 40 operators. The company has introduced many first of its kind digital services in the country and has been the pioneer for paving the way in taking mobile financial services to the under-served communities in the rural and semi-urban areas. It is the only mobile operator to have successfully conducted the trial run of 5G and Voice over LTE technology on its 4.5G network. More: https://www.robi.com.bd/en/corporate/company-profile