Bangladesh’s telecom regulator has given India’s Bharti Airtel permission to invest an initial US$300 million in Warid Telecom, Bangladesh’s fourth-largest mobile operator, paving the way for Bharti’s takeover of the firm. “We have asked Bharti Airtel to submit a detailed investment plan for Warid Telecom to BTRC [Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission] within 30 days,” said BTRC chairman Zia Ahmed, reports Dow Jones Newswires. He added that the payment was the first phase of Bharti taking a 70 percent stake in the operator and that further investments were expected over the next few years. Unconfirmed reports suggest that total investments could eventually top US$1 billion. Warid Telecom is currently owned by the UAE-based Dhabi Group, which last month asked the BTRC for permission to sell the asset.

Expansion into Bangladesh is the latest attempt by Bharti – the market-leader in India – to break out of its crowded home market into new emerging territories. The move represents a shift in focus to smaller targets after its planned US$23 billion merger with South Africa’s MTN failed again this summer. Warid Telecom trails the Telenor-owned market-leader Grameenphone, second-placed Orascom Telecom and third-placed Axiata in the Bangladeshi mobile market. Warid had 2.7 million mobile connections at the end of 3Q09, according to Wireless Intelligence data.