DHAKA: Mobile operators Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh are in talks to merge their operations in Bangladesh.

Airtel said in a statement that Malaysia-based Axiata and India-based Bharti Airtel were in exclusive discussions on the merger in Bangladesh, which would create the country's second-largest operator.

Robi is currently the third-largest mobile operator in Bangladesh with around 28 million customers, while Airtel has 9 million subscribers.

If the merger goes ahead, Vimpelcom’s Banglalink would be pushed to third place, while Robi-Airtel take second place, behind Grameenphone.

According to the latest figures from market regulator BRTC, Grameenphone is market leader with almost 54 million subscribers while Banglalink has 32 million customers.

In total the Bangladesh mobile industry served 128 million customers at the end of July, reports telecompaper.com.

BDST: 1632 HRS, SEPT 10, 2015
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