Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is making available Batelco’s connections to homes and business to competing operators.

In telecoms terms this is commonly known as unbundling the local loop.

“This move is an essential enabler of further competition at the retail level, especially for the provision of high-speed broadband,” said TRA general director Alan Horne.

“When implemented, it is expected to result in raising the Internet access speed without necessarily raising prices as well as increase product innovation and differentiation.”

To achieve this measure, TRA yesterday issued an invitation to consultancy firms to submit their proposals in order to assist in defining the process and procedures required to effectively complete the local loop unbundling (LLU).

“Along with defining the appropriate approach for implementing LLU, the selected consultancy firm will work on producing the detailed required documents to ensure smooth implementation of service descriptions, service level agreements and operation manuals,” said TRA manager for market and competition Adel Darwish.

“The consultancy firm will closely work with TRA and Batelco to host a series of workshops for the industry, to ensure understanding of the LLU services.”

The Telecommunications Law obliges Batelco to provide other licensed operators an access to its local exchanges, allowing them to reach the end consumer.

This latest move is aimed at supporting a choice of competitive services over Batelco’s access network.

The unbundled local loop services will be available to competing licensed operators as an addition to existing Batelco wholesale services.

Bahrain’s position as a regional leader in telecommunications was confirmed by the Arab Advisors Group at the 5th Annual Media and Telecoms Convergence Conference.

Using the Total Country Connectivity Measure (TCCM), the Group revealed the groundbreaking progress made by Bahrain which has led to the impressive score of 210.4% connectivity per person - dwarfing the regional average of 135.37%.

Bahrain - which has a reputation for leading ICT in the region - was rated above its fellow GCC states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The Kingdom’s success in connectivity owes much to the recent growth in fixed telephone lines and the internet as well as the traditional source of growth in connectivity, increases in cellular phones. Both reflect the liberalisation policies introduced by the government in 2002 designed to increase competition and choice in the Kingdom’s ICT market.

Since its establishment in 2002 the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, which follows international best practices, has issued 152 licences as of December 2007, eight of which are national fixed line providers. The Oxford Business Group reported that Bahrain invested more of its GDP in ICT than any other GCC country in 2006. Major multi-national companies including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Zain have chosen to establish regional offices in Bahrain.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board commented:

‘Communication and connectivity lie at the heart of Bahrain’s vision to provide the best environment for business in the GCC. Businesses locating in Bahrain recognise the excellent ICT infrastructure as one of the many advantages that moving to the Kingdom can bring.

Connectivity and wider ICT development are a vital part of the Kingdom’s economic diversification and Bahrain continues its leading role in the region to adopt state-of-the-art technology. Bahrain is fully committed to ensuring a competitive telecommunications industry, and in recent years the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has made considerable strides in diversifying the industry and improving services.’

The results build on Bahrain’s strong track record in ICT. It was the first Middle Eastern country to install a computer, introduce smartcards and hold an online referendum. Bahrain’s success in ICT is largely due to the Government’s policies designed to foster greater connectivity within Bahrain, by liberalising the telecommunications industry and allowing competition to fuel the rapid expansion of this sector of the economy.

The Total Country Connectivity Measure recognised the ever-increasing number of Bahrainis that are connected via telecommunications or internet access. The Arab Advisors Group measured Bahrain’s connectivity by adding together the household mainline telephone penetration, cellular penetration, and Internet users penetration rates within the country.

People in Bahrain are now among the well-connected population in the GCC, as the country’s connectivity per person has reached 210.4 per cent, dwarfing the regional average of 135.37 per cent, according to the Arab Advisors Group.

The group measured Bahrain’s connectivity by adding together the household mainline telephone penetration, cellular penetration and internet users penetration rates within the country.

“Bahrain’s score of over 200 per cent indicates a well-connected population with a high percentage of citizens enjoying access to more than one mode of communication,” a press statement said.

Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al Khalifa, chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said communication and connectivity lie at the heart of Bahrain’s vision to provide the best environment for business in the GCC.

“Businesses locating in Bahrain recognise the excellent ICT (information communications technology) infrastructure as one of the many advantages that moving to the Kingdom can bring,” Al Khalifa said.

Since its establishment in 2002, Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has issued 152 licences, eight of which are national fixed line providers.

The Oxford Business Group reported that Bahrain invested more of its gross domestic product in ICT than any other GCC country in 2006.

Major multi-national companies including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Zain have ALSO chosen to establish regional offices in Bahrain.

Bahrain, one of the first countries to deregulate its telecom sector, will also be the first country in the Middle East to be covered 100 per cent by the state-of-the-art wireless network WiMax to be deployed in the Kingdom by the US giant Motorola for Mena Telecom.

Mena Telecom, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (KFH), signed a major agreement with Motorola Inc to plan, deploy and manage a nationwide 802.16e-based mobile WiMax and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network in the Bahrain.

Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat, chairman of Mena Telecom and general manager of KFH, who signed the agreement with Motorola’s vice-president Middle East & Africa Networks and Enterprise Ali Amer, told a Press conference that the Kingdom’s attractive telecom sector would help to elevate the standard of services and also to attract foreign investments.
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