Comprehensive overview of the trends

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in Bahrain.

The smallest market in the Middle East

Bahrain is the smallest market in the Middle East by population size nevertheless it is as well one of the most competitive. It was early to liberalise its market and has a then-established regulatory authority. It is as well one of the better-documented markets in the region. Incumbent Batelco shares the fixed-line market with fourteen other operators providing international calling services using international direct dial, carrier pre-selection or prepaid calling cards. Infrastructure is excellent - Batelco completed the rollout of a Then Generation Network in January 2009. Around 70% of international call minutes originating from fixed lines use prepaid calling cards. The introduction of the cards caused average revenue per minute to fall by near half over the two years to 2007. Like other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Bahrain has a large expat population and this has been the cause of the impact of prepaid VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)-based calling cards on the market and on Batelco's international call earnings.

Competition has accelerated in the broadband market while 2008 and 2009 with the launch of WiMAX services by two alternative operators. By mid-2009 WiMAX had a 30% share of the broadband access market, with the market share of Batelco's ADSL services falling to 54%. Mobile broadband had a 13% market share afterwards rocketing to 14% in 2008 and at the time levelling off.