Telecom Lead Asia: Qubee, a WiMAX wireless broadband
internet access provider, announced that its networks in Bangladesh and
Pakistan reached 125,000 and 75,000 WiMAX subscribers respectively at
the end of March 2012. Qubee is a subsidiary of Augere, a WiMAX wireless
broadband internet access provider. Augere, which has tied up with Ericsson,
will be launching TD LTE services in India shortly.
The addition in subscriber base represents a 130 percent
year-on-year increase across the combined operations.
In Bangladesh, Qubee’s WiMAX internet
customer base grew by 178 percent in the twelve-month period, while in Pakistan
the subscriber growth rate was 79 percent over the year.
Both the Pakistani and
Bangladeshi Qubee services launched in 2009 and Augere said
that it had rolled out a combined total of more than 700 WiMAX base
stations by the end of 2011.
We are delighted to have reached the 200,000 customer
mark across two of our key markets. This demonstrates the viability of our
business model, which centers on providing wireless broadband access
in major population hubs in fast growing markets. It is also rewarding to see
an increasing number of people in the developing world having access to a fast,
reliable and affordable wireless broadband service which allows for instant
connectivity with people, business and entertainment technologies around the
world,” said David Venn, CEO of Augere.
According to
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Qubee is second in the
Bangladeshi WiMAX market, behind Banglalion Communications,
which signed up 200,000 WiMAX broadband internet users by the start
of 2012.
WiMAX technology has achieved a penetration rate of 50 percent of all broadband
connections in urban centers in Pakistan.
Pakistan has a huge untapped market with only 7 percent
of households having subscribed to broadband internet. The fixed market space
is virtually untapped and future potential for growth is immense for broadband
operators.
Meanwhile, Augere will be launching its TD-LTE services
in India shortly. The company has tied up with Ericsson to launch broadband
services.
