Halima Telecom sets eyes beyond boundary

Highlights:

• Halima Telecom is a part of Halima Group having 5 sister companies
• Halima Group currently employs 900 people, of whom 90% are women
• Demand for Halima Telecom's phones 2 lakh per month
• The company marketed 30,000 phones of two models on 3 February
• It also produces mobile accessories: chargers, batteries, power banks and others

Low price feature phones produced by Halima Telecom, an electronic accessories company based in Cumilla, have gained popularity among customers of different districts of the country. The success has set the company dreaming of exporting its products in future.

The company released 30,000 phones of two models on 3 February. The product has seen a huge demand as a result in the market. However, the production of the phones now remains halted due to a shortage of raw materials amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Halima Telecom also produces mobile accessories such as chargers, batteries, power banks and other electronic products.

Abul Kalam Hasan, proprietor of Halima Telecom, said, "There is a huge demand for our H-1 and T-1 mobile phones as the prices are within reach. The prices of the models are Tk650 and Tk950 respectively.

"As the price is low and the quality is good, customers are buying our phones. But due to a lack of necessary raw materials, we are now not able to supply mobile phones properly to customers."

Abul Kalam said there is a demand for 2 lakh phones of Halima's brand across the country per month.

"We are planning to bring out four more models after the pandemic situation becomes normal. We will also produce touchscreen mobile phones. Then we will begin our new journey by exporting phones to Europe and America," he added.

Halima Group, of which Halima Telecom is a part, produces electronics products, among which are mobile chargers, batteries, power banks, cables, fans, LED lights, energy lights, clear bulbs, backlights, circuit breakers and bulb holders. The company is planning to launch TV and refrigerators in the future.

The group has five sister companies – Halima Electronics, Halima Traders, Halima World, HTE and Nucleic Global.

The company produces mobile and mobile accessories products worth around Tk41.35 crore every month. Of the amount, mobile phones are worth Tk2.10 crore, chargers Tk21.25 crore, batteries Tk1.50 crore and power banks Tk7.50 crore. Besides, it produces other electronics products worth Tk40 crore.

Halima Group currently employs 900 people, of whom 90% are women. Local women are recruited after training. Many women working in the company had been unemployed or had worked as housemaids in other people's houses. Besides, the company has 450 salesmen and 500 distributors.

The production of mobile and mobile accessories is done at a six-storey building in Madhyam Chanpur area of Cumilla Sadar beside the Gomti River. The factory manufactures 3.4, 2.4, 2 mAh chargers, 1,000 mAh to 2,600 mAh batteries and up to 10,000 mAh power banks. In 2015, Halima Telecom became the leading company in Bangladesh in manufacturing batteries, chargers and power banks.

Halima Telecom manufactures 8.5 lakh chargers and 3.5 lakh batteries every month. According to company officials, there is more demand in the market for their products than their production.

Abul Kalam Hasan has represented Bangladesh in international trade fairs in Qatar and Thailand with his products.

"In 1996, I worked as a hotel boy in Sirajganj. After working there for some time, I moved to Dhaka with some of my savings. I started Grameenphone's prepaid card business there. Then in 1999, I came back to Cumilla and worked as a sub-dealer and later as a distributor of Grameenphone," Abul Kalam said about the beginning of his journey.

"While involved with Grameenphone, I got an idea about mobile accessories. Then in 2010, I went to China. I got a rough idea there and brought some raw materials to the country when I got back. Then I started making mobile accessories with four people. At first, I failed, but I did not give up. Then we started to gain success with our products," he added.