Banglalion

Banglalion Communications Ltd.
Company type	Private
Industry	Telecommunication
Founded	2008; 16 years ago
Founder	Major (Retd.) Abdul Mannan
Defunct	2021; 3 years ago
Headquarters	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Area served	Countrywide of Bangladesh
Key people	Major (Retd.) Abdul Mannan (Chairman)
Services	Wireless broadband; Wi-Max;
Owner	Sunman Group
Website	www.banglalion4g.com

Banglalion Communications Ltd was a privately held Bangladeshi 4G wireless broadband operator. It used WiMAX technology. It had a nationwide license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to provide broadband wireless access services for data, voice and video. Banglalion covered 7 divisional headquarters and 30 major districts of Bangladesh. As of 2022, it does not provide any products.

History

Banglalion was founded by Major (Retd.) Abdul Mannan in 2008, as a subsidiary of Sunamn Group. The company won a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) license to provide WiMAX technology countrywide in an auction held by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in the September of this year.^[1] The company raised Tk450 crore for its setup, with BDT 171 crore loan from 7 banks of Bangladesh, mainly AB Bank and BDT 130 crore from bonds.^[2]

By 2011, the operator garnered an overwhelming response with its subscriber count reaching 350,000.^[2] At the end of 2012, Banglalion started to expand its business to the major districts of Bangladesh along with divisional headquarters.^[1] It was the highest bidder, at Tk 2.15 billion ($31.4M as of September 2008), and chose spectrum in the 2585-2620 MHz bandwidth.^[3]^[4] In November 2009, it became the second operator, after Augere, to launch a WiMAX network in Bangladesh.^[5]

As of 2022, it does not provide any products.^[6]

Services

Banglalion used to offer both postpaid and prepaid packages for its users. These packages came in different bandwidth and speed limits. Banglalion's competitors were Qubee and Ollo.

Coverage

Banglalion used to cover 7 divisional cities Dhaka, Gazipur, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangpur and Barisal.^[7] Network had rolled out in other major cities such as Munshiganj, Naraynganj, Rajbari, Mymensingh, Comilla, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Satkhira, Bogra, and Cox's Bazar.

Banglalion officially shut down

In 2021, Banglalion's license was revoked and was officially shut down. In December 2020, Banglalion owed BTRC about BDT 205.94 crore. They cannot afford to repay this loan. As a result, despite the license being valid until 2023, Banglalion's license was revoked.^[8]^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Why Banglalion WiMax Failed in Bangladesh?". 28 February 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Lack of foresight brings Banglalion down". 8 February 2022.
^ "Three firms clinch licenses to operate WiMax". The Daily Star. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
^ "BTRC hands over BWA services license to BCL". The New Nation. 28 November 2008. BCL Chairman Major (Retd) Abdul Mannan ... received the license on behalf of the Banglalion ... Banglalion being the highest bidder at Tk 2.15 billion
^ "Bangla Lion launches WiMAX too". bdnews24.com. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
^ "Home - Banglalion 4g IT Support". 2022-01-08. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
^ "Coverage Map". Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
^ "Why Banglalion WiMax Failed in Bangladesh?". Business Inspection BD. 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
^ "Lack of foresight brings Banglalion down". The Business Standard. 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-06-18.