In December 2005, Warid Telecom International LLC, an Abu Dhabi based consortium, paid US$50 million to obtain a GSM license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

In 2010, Warid Telecom sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's Bharti Airtel for US$300 million.

Bharti's proposal also included an initial $300 million investment in Warid to create new shares in the company.

[9] In June 2020, Japanese telecom company NTT DoCoMo left Bangladesh by selling its entire stakes in Robi Axiata Ltd to Bharti Airtel.

At the time of departure, it had only 6.31 percent shares and completely empty handed despite investing $350 million in the country.