Japan’s second largest telecom company KDDI announced yesterday that it would invest USD9M (JPY800M) on Banglaseshi largest ISP bracNet next January. The rate of the diffusion of the Internet service in the country is as low as 2% despite the country is ranked as the world’s 7th in the number of the population. With this investment, KDDI aims at developing infrastructures in the country and providing reasonable Internet services to the people. KDDI plans to have 50% of all bracNet shares in accordance with the ISP’s request.
BracNet was co-founded by Tokyo- and San Francisco-based venture capital firm Defta Partners and and Dhaka-based non-profit organization BRAC in 2005, and is also known as the ISP edition of the country’s well-known community financial service Grameen Bank who has won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. KDDI will send their four persons to the ISP’s board. The ISP now owns and operates 110 Internet cafes all around the country, and it also provides Internet connection service nationwide.
Masaru IKEDA