"An existing subscriber will need to make a recommendation by simply giving his or her active Banglalink number to someone who wants to buy a new connection," said Lars P Reichelt, chief executive officer of the company, while announcing the offer styled 'give and receive' formally at a press briefing in Dhaka.

After buying a connection, the new customer will need to mention the Banglalink number of the client who recommended him or her, Reichelt said.

The existing customer who makes the recommendation will receive free talk time worth Tk 50 for every new subscription taken out this way. Mehboob Chowdhury, chief commercial officer of the company, also explained other features of the new offer.

Reichelt said the new customer who buys 'be linked!' or 'ladies, first!' connection with recommendation will enjoy a twofold benefit.

Firstly, one will get 'm2m' connection for Tk 350, a 68 percent discount on regular price of Tk 1,100, 'm2m plus' for Tk 550, a 61 percent discount on regular price of Tk 1,400 and 'standard' for Tk 750, a 64 percent discount on normal price of Tk 2,099.

Secondly, each new connection will come with Tk 100 free talk time that will be valid for 30 days.

Reichelt mentioned that an existing client can make up to 5 recommendations with a total free talk time of Tk 250 if he or she is a 'ladies, first!' or 'be linked!' or 'call and control' subscriber.

In case of an 'upper class' customer, the maximum number of recommendations is 10 with Tk 500 free talk time, he went on.

Once activated, the new customer has to send the number of the recommender to 646 through SMS (short message service) and within 24 hours the recommender will receive Tk 50 talk time, Reichelt said. A new customer who gets a connection through recommendation now becomes an existing customer and can start the recommendation process, he added.