Cirkle (telecommunications)

cirkle
Native name
সার্কেল
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryDigital Lifestyle & Telecommunication
PredecessorAirtel Bangladesh & Warid Bangladesh
Founded17 August 2026 (2026-08-17)
Headquarters Robi Axiata PLC, The Forum, 187-188/B, Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Sarak, Tejgaon Industrial Area,
Dhaka
Area served
Bangladesh
Products
  • Mobile telephony (GSM, VoLTE)
  • Mobile internet (2G, 4G, & 5G)
  • Digital services
  • eSIM
Parent Robi Axiata PLC
Websitehttps://cirkle.digital/

Cirkle, stylized as cirkle (Bengali: সার্কেল) is a telecommunications sub-brand under the Bangladeshi mobile network operator Robi Axiata PLC. It was formerly known as Airtel and Warid before adopting its current branding. The brand's parent company is majority-owned by Axiata of Malaysia and Bharti Airtel of India.[1]

History

Warid Bangladesh

In December 2005, Warid Telecom International LLC, an Abu Dhabi based consortium, paid US$50 million to obtain a GSM license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). In doing so, Warid Telecom became the sixth mobile phone operator in Bangladesh.

Takeover by Bharti Airtel

In 2010, Warid Telecom sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's Bharti Airtel for US$300 million. Bharti's proposal also included an initial $300 million investment in Warid to create new shares in the company.[2][3] The BTRC approved the deal on 4 January 2010.[4] Bharti Airtel Limited took control of the company and its board and re-branded the company's services under its 'Airtel' brand starting on 20 December 2010.

In March 2013, Warid Telecom sold its remaining 30% share to Bharti Airtel's Singapore-based concern Bharti Airtel Holdings Pte Limited for US$85 million.[5][6][7]

On 8 September 2013, Airtel Bangladesh licensed 5 MHz of the 3G spectrum for US$1.25 million.

Merger with Robi Axiata

In January 2016, Robi and Airtel Bangladesh announced that they intended to merge their Bangladesh operations. The combined entity, called Robi, would serve about 32 million subscribers. Axiata Group was to own 68.7% of the shares, Bharti Enterprises was to own 25.0%, while the remaining 6.3% would be owned by NTT DoCoMo.[8][9] The merger was completed in November 2016.[10]

Departure of NTT DoCoMo

In June 2020, Japanese telecom company NTT DoCoMo left Bangladesh after investing $350 million in the country by selling its entire stakes in Robi Axiata Ltd to Bharti Airtel, which has been with Robi from 2008 by acquiring 30 percent stake in that company. At the time of departure, it had only 6.31 percent shares.[11][12]

Discontinuation of Airtel brand

Robi Axiata PLC has faced anti-competitive complaints by competing telecom operators, Grameenphone and Banglalink, for using the 'airtel' branding.

According to the conditions set out by BTRC during the 2016 merge, 'airtel' brand name had be removed after two year of merger, the brand name however has been used by Robi Axiata PLC for almost 10 years.[13]

Launch of cirkle

Robi Axiata launched the brand cirkle on 17 August 2026. Following the rebrand, former Warid and Airtel users became users of cirkle.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Robi rebrands Airtel, from now it is Cirkle in Bangladesh | The Daily Star". www.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Bharti bags Bangladesh's Warid for bargain price of Rs 45 lakh". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Krishna, R. Jai; Sahu, Prasanta (12 January 2010). "Bharti Airtel to Buy Warid Telecom for $300 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Ahmed, Rumman (5 January 2010). "Bharti Airtel to Invest $300 Million in Warid Telecom". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Bharti Buys out airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Robi-Airtel merger defers again". The Daily Star. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Airtel spends $80 million for additional 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh". The Daily Ittefaq. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Axiata and Bharti Airtel Agree to Merge Operations in Bangladesh". Axiata. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Malaysia's Axiata and India's Bharti to merge subsidiaries". Reuters. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Robi, Airtel complete merger". The Daily Star. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "NTT DoCoMo poured $350m in Bangladesh. But it is now leaving empty-handed". The Daily Star. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Bharti Airtel to buy NTT DoCoMo's stakes in Robi". The Business Standard. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Robi faces complaints from GP, Banglalink over Airtel branding | The Daily Star". www.thedailystar.net. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Cite error: The named reference :02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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