Teletalk sustains thru own revenue: MD

FE Team | Published: May 19, 2026 22:32:46

Teletalk Managing Director Nurul Mabud Chowdhury has said the government does not provide any subsidy for the state-owned mobile operator's operational expenses, as the operator sustains its activities entirely through its own revenue, reports BSS.
"Many people say the government has provided subsidy to Teletalk. I want to say with information that the government gives no subsidy for Teletalk's operational expenses. Teletalk runs its operational costs with its own income," he said.
His remarks come amid widespread discussions about the struggling condition of Teletalk compared to the strong performance of the country's three private operators.
Nurul Mabud Chowdhury said Teletalk is the only government operator that has to compete with world-class telecom giants to retain its market share.
Referring to criticism over Teletalk's performance, Nurul Mabud Chowdhury said many raised the common question of why Teletalk could not grow despite huge public interest after its launch in 2005.
He said he has been in the telecom sector since 1991 and witnessed many developments in the industry. Before the mobile sector flourished, Citycell was operating in the country but it was expensive and not affordable for ordinary people, he said, adding that Bangladesh's mobile network journey mainly began in 1996 with three operators.
Questioning criticism over Teletalk, he said he does not know of any country where the mobile telecom journey started by giving licences only to the private sector without including the government entity.
"We entered operation nearly 10 years later after overcoming many obstacles. By then, private sector operators had already become giants through massive business expansion," he said.
The Teletalk MD said many people question the necessity of retaining Teletalk because of its small market share, but he also asks why there was so much craze over Teletalk in 2005.
"If mobile operators had functioned properly, people could easily get SIMs, call rates remained affordable and network quality was good, then there would not have been such a craze over Teletalk," he said.
On the spectrum issue - radio frequencies used for mobile and internet services - Nurul Mabud Chowdhury said many people claim Teletalk received spectrum free of cost, while media frequently report that Teletalk owes Tk 50.00 billion to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
"Teletalk is a government operator. Who will finance it? The government will...," he said.