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DHAKA, Aug 14 - Bangladesh's six mobile phone operators signed up a total 1.1 million new subscribers in July, lifting the user base to 44.8 million in one of Asia's fastest-growing cellular markets.
Top operator Grameenphone, controlled by Norway's Telenor, which is gearing up for a $300 million public offer, raised its subscriber base to 20.84 million in July from 20.31 million in June, telecoms regulator data showed on Thursday.
Egypt-based Orascom Telecom's Banglalink, the No. 2 telecoms firm, signed up 440,000 new users in July to take its total to 9.90 million.
Third-ranked Aktel, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International, added 130,000 users, taking its user base to 7.98 million at end-July.
Warid Telecom International of the United Arab Emirates, which launched its Bangladesh operations in May 2007, ended July with 3.48 million users from 3.31 million.
The only CDMA carrier, CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd and Singapore Telecommunication, saw its user numbers fall to 1.67 million in July from 1.70 million in June.
State-owned Teletalk's user base stood at 930,000 in July.
The number of mobile phone users rose nearly 58 per cent in 2007 to 34.4 million, the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission said, helped by competitive tariffs and cheap handsets.
Impoverished Bangladesh has the lowest average monthly cost for mobile telephone use at all levels of use, according to a recent report titled 'Mobile Benchmark Studies in South Asia and Latin America'.
Mobile phone services are an important contributor to the cash-strapped nation's economy. Several market surveys have forecast the number of mobile phone users will be around 70 million at the end of 2011.
The country has just 1.27 million land-line phone customers.
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