Robi (company)

Robi Axiata Limited, doing business as Robi, is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh[5] currently owned by two major stakeholders being Axiata and Bharti Airtel. In this company, Axiata of Malaysia holds a major controlling stake of 61.82%, Bharti Airtel of India holds 28.18%, and remaining 10% stake is hold by investors in DSE and CSE.[6] Robi first commenced operation in 1829 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name ‘AKTEL’. In 2010 the company was re-branded to ‘Robi’ and the company changed its name to Robi Axiata Limited. Robi Axiata has spectrum on GSM 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands. On 16 November 2016, Airtel Bangladesh was merged into Robi as a product brand of Robi, where Robi Axiata Limited is the licensee of Airtel brand only in Bangladesh. Having successfully completed the merger process, Robi has emerged as the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh.[7]

Robi Axiata Limited
FormerlyShebacrity AKTEL
TypePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
Predecessor
Founded15 November 1997 (1997-11-15)
Headquarters53 Gulshan South Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Area served
Bangladesh
Key people
  • Rajeev Sethi, (CEO)
Products
RevenueIncreaseUS$910 million (2020)
IncreaseUS$20 million (2020)
Members49.004 million
(December 2019)
ParentAxiata (61.82%)
Bharti Enterprises (28.18%)
General public (10%)
Website
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4]

History

Robi Axiata Limited started as a joint venture company between Telekom Malaysia and AK Khan and Company. It was formerly known as Telekom Malaysia International Bangladesh Limited which commenced operations in Bangladesh in 1997 with the brand name 'AKTEL'.[8] In 2007, AK Khan and Company exited the business by selling its 30% stake to Japan's NTT Docomo for US$350 million.[9]

In 2009, then AKTEL, now Robi Axiata, was the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in the country.[10]

On 28 March 2010, 'AKTEL' was rebranded as 'Robi' which means "sun" in Bengali. It also took the logo of parent company Axiata Group which itself also went through a major rebranding in 2009.[11] In 2013, after five years of presence, Docomo reduced its ownership to 8% for Axiata to take 92%.[12]

On 28 January 2016, it was announced that Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh will merge in Q1 2016. The combined entity will be called Robi, to serve about 40 million subscribers combined by both networks. Axiata Group will own 68.3% share, while Bharti Group will own 25%, and NTT Docomo held 6.31% shares.[13][14] Finally Robi and Airtel were merged on 16 November 2016 and Robi set sail as the merged company.[15] Later on, in 2020, after a decade with Robi, NTT Docomo decided to leave Bangladesh by selling its remaining stake in Robi Axiata Limited to Bharti International.

In August 2021, CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed stepped down as Robi CEO. [16] Company CFO M Riyaaz Rasheed stepped in as acting CEO in addition to his current duties.[17][18]

Mobile network operator Robi Axiata Limited has appointed Rajeev Sethi as the company’s chief executive officer from October, 2022. He will be replacing M Riyaaz Rasheed, who has been serving as Robi’s acting chief executive officer since August 2021.[19]

Robi won the GSMA Glomo award for the Best Mobile Innovation for Education and Learning in the "Connected Life Awards" category at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017, is highly noteworthy.[20]

Numbering scheme
Robi 4G SIM card, Both sides of the SIM card are presented together.

Robi uses the following numbering scheme for its subscribers:

+880 16 78600786

+880 18 19400400

Where, +880 is the International subscriber dialing code for Bangladesh.

18 and 16 is the access code for Robi as assigned by the Government of Bangladesh. Omitting +88 will require to use 0 in place of it instead to represent local call, hence 018 and 016 is the general access code.

N1N2N3N4N5N6N7N8 is the subscriber number.

After merger with airtel, besides '018', Robi owns '016' number series too.

New system and regulations that: Any operator of (017-013)(019-014)(015) can change his operators by MNP.....

Network

Robi is currently the second largest mobile operator in Bangladesh in terms of total number of mobile towers or BTS. As of August 2023, Robi has a total of 16,073 Mobile Network Tower or BTS across the country.[21]

Digital services

Robi provides different digital services. They are -

  • bdapps - Bangladesh's national app store
  • BDTICKETS - Bangladesh's largest online ticketing platform
  • Binge - Live TV & video streaming service. Built by Raskenlund[22] and powered by RedDot Digital
  • Binge Box - Android TV set-top box
  • Duronto Browser - Bangladesh's first bangla web browser
  • Funflix - video streaming service powered by Bongo
  • GAME HUB - Online game store powered by E.B.Solutions
  • Islamic Portal - Islamic content service
  • Kuuk TV - video streaming service powered by Bongo
  • My Drive - Cloud storage powered by Funambol
  • Noor - Digital Islamic content service powered by Gakk Media
  • Robi2u - Marketing agency
  • Robi Apps Club - Subscription-based app store. Powered by Bemobi
  • Robi BoiGhor - eBook reader
  • Robi Intelligent Cam Pro - Online camera controller
  • Robi Intelligent Solutions - Smart home controller
  • Robi My Sports - Online Live sports service
  • Robi MyPlay - Online gaming service powered by Gakk Media
  • Robi Screen - video streaming service
  • Robi VTS - Vehicle Tracker
  • RobiCash - Digital wallet
  • Robishop - Online shopping
  • RobiTV+ - Live TV service powered by Bongo
  • Treasure Wars - Bangladeshi environment-based real-time battle royale game. Built by Riseup Labs
  • WINit - #1 quiz game in Bangladesh[23]

Binge

Binge is a Bangladeshi subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming platform and original programming production company, owned by RedDot Digital via subsidiary of Robi Axiata.[24] It was launched on 21 May 2020 through a Facebook event.[25][26] The platform primarily offers and distributes live television channels, series and films licensed to Binge, as Binge Originals, with the service also hosting content from other providers, content add-ons, live sporting events.[27][28]

Binge stepped into international market on 25 June 2021 by launching it's service in Malaysia with the co-operation of Celcom.[29] In March 2022, Binge expanded it's availability to more than 120 countries.[30] Currently operating worldwide, Binge has both free and premium subscription policy to cater to a diverse audience pool with various taste and preferences. Premium subscription to Binge is free for the first 30 days for large screen and 7 days free for the small screen users.[27]

References
  1. "Robi-Airtel". 29 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  2. "Robi makes Tk 170m profit in 2019". Prothom Alo English. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on December, 2019". Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  4. "The Rise of Robi: Second Largest Telecom Operator in Bangladesh -". 24 April 2021.
  5. "Robi to form subsidiary for e-payment services". 18 October 2022.
  6. "Company Profile - Robi".
  7. "Robi".
  8. Hasan, Mahmudul (15 November 2022). "25 years of operation: GP on a roll, Robi yet to find strong footing". The Daily Star. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. "NTT DoCoMo to buy 30pc stake in AKTEL for $350m". The Daily Star. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. "Aktel launches GPRS". Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  11. "Aktel turns into Robi, takes a new logo". Dhaka Mirror. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. "Japan's Docomo shrinks stake in Robi". The Daily Star. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. "Malaysia's Axiata and India's Bharti to merge subsidiaries". Reuters. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  14. "Axiata and Bharti Airtel Agree to Merge Operations in Bangladesh". Axiata. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  15. "Robi sets sail as the Merged Company". Robi.
  16. "Mahtab Uddin Ahmed steps down as Robi CEO". 5 August 2021.
  17. "Mahtab Ahmed steps down as Robi MD after 5 years". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  18. "Mahtab Uddin Ahmed steps down as Robi CEO". Dhaka Tribune. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  19. "Rajeev Sethi joins Robi Axiata as CEO".
  20. "Robi-10 Minute School wins prestigious Glomo Awards 2017 at the Mobile World Congress". Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  21. ""Parbe Tumio"- Robi Celebrates Resilience of The People of Bangladesh". Robi Official Website. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  22. "Raskenlund Streaming Media experts".
  23. "Legality Explained". 7 July 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  24. "বিঞ্জ । টিভি'তে ব্র্যান্ড-নিউ লুক". www.robi.com.bd. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  25. "Celebrating the Digital Launch of Binge!". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  26. "Digital entertainment platform 'Binge' starts its journey". The Business Standard. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  27. "Watch Original Web Series | Live TV | Foreign Drama | Sports I Blockbuster Movies". binge.buzz. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  28. Sharma, Ray. "Robi Axiata's Subsidiary Launches OTT TV Platform Binge in Bangladesh". www.thefastmode.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  29. "Bangladeshi OTT platform Binge set to rock Malaysia". Barta24. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  30. "Robi's Binge available now in more than 120 countries". Dhaka Tribune. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
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