| Robi Axiata PLC | |
| Native Name: | রবি আজিয়াটা পিএলসি |
| Native Name Lang: | bn |
| Former Name: | AKTEL |
| Type: | Public subsidiary |
| Area Served: | Bangladesh |
| Key People: |
|
| Industry: | Mobile telecommunication services |
| Owner: | Axiata Group (61.82%) Bharti Airtel (28.18%) Public holds (10%) |
| Members: | 58.34 million (Q1 2024) |
| Revenue: | US$910 million (2020) |
| Net Income: | US$20 million (2020) |
| Founder: | A.M. Zahiruddin Khan[1] |
| Location: | Robi Corporate Office (NEW), The Forum, 187-188/B, Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Sarak, Tejgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Footnotes: | [2] [3] [4] [5] |
Robi Axiata PLC is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh[6] 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.[7] Robi first commenced operation in 1997 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. As per government rule, the name changed to Robi Axiata PLC in 2024 as Robi is listed in Stock Market and a Public Limited Company. 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 PLC 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.[8]
Robi Axiata PLC 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'.[9] In 2007, AK Khan and Company exited the business by selling its 30% stake to Japan's NTT Docomo for US$350 million.[10]
In 2009, then AKTEL, now Robi Axiata, was the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in the country.[11]
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.[12] In 2013, after five years of presence, Docomo reduced its ownership to 8% for Axiata to take 92%.[13]
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.[14] [15] Finally Robi and Airtel were merged on 16 November 2016 and Robi set sail as the merged company.[16] Later on, in 2020, after a decade with Robi, NTT Docomo decided to leave Bangladesh by selling its remaining stake in Robi Axiata PLC to Bharti International.
In August 2021, CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed stepped down as Robi CEO.[17] Company CFO M Riyaaz Rasheed stepped in as acting CEO in addition to his current duties.[18] [19]
Mobile network operator Robi Axiata PLC 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.[20]
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.[21]
Robi uses the following numbering scheme for its subscribers:
+880 18 NNNNNNNN (ROBI brand)
+880 16 NNNNNNNN (AIRTEL brand)
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.
In 2018, when Mobile number portability was introduced users can port to any operator without changing its number.[22] [23]
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.[24]
Robi provides different digital services. They are -
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.[27] It was launched on 21 May 2020 through a Facebook event.[28] [29] 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.[30] [31]
Binge stepped into international market on 25 June 2021 by launching its service in Malaysia with the co-operation of Celcom.[32] In March 2022, Binge expanded its availability to more than 120 countries.[33] 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.