Bangladeshi mobile operator Banglalink saw its total revenue increase by 1.3 percent year-on-year to BDT 11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, while mobile service revenue rose 2.6 percent year-on-year to BDT 10.7 billion. The revenue increase was mainly driven by an acceleration of data revenue growth resulting from network improvements during the quarter, following spectrum acquisition in the first quarter of 2018 and enhanced network availability, along with the continued expansion of Banglalink’s distribution footprint, parent company Veon reported.
Banglalink’s mobile customer base grew by 3.1 percent year-on-year to 32.3 million, ARPU slightly declined 0.2 percent year-on-year, while mobile data revenue jumped 25.2 percent year-on-year, boosted by increased smartphone penetration and 76.6 percent year-on-year (or 39.5 percent quarter-on-quarter) data usage growth, along with 15.9 percent growth in the number of active data users.
Banglalink’s EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased by 3.7 percent to BDT 3.8 billion, mainly as a result of revenue decline and an increase of structural opex due to 4G/LTE network expansion, the company said. EBITDA margin stood at 34.3 percent, which represents a decline of 1.8 percentage points year-on-year.
Third-quarter capex excluding licenses decreased by more than 82.6 percent year-on-year to BDT 0.7 billion. 3G network coverage was approximately 72 percent at end-2018. The roll-out of 4G/LTE is in progress, and the service, which was launched in February 2018, covered 17 percent of the country’s population at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018.