Synopsis
This report provides an overview of the communications market in Bahrain. The market is small but highly developed and competitive. Bahrain was earlier to start liberalising its telecom market than most countries in the region and a significant number of alternative operators have been licensed. A third mobile licence was awarded in early 2009. Bahrain already had very high mobile penetration but Internet and broadband penetration are now showing the benefits of greater competition. Further liberalisation is planned including local loop unbundling and number portability. Incumbent operator Batelco has reacted by expanding elsewhere in the region. Infrastructure is excellent – Batelco completed the rollout of an NGN in January 2009 and 3.5G mobile services are also available across the island. Two operators offer WiMAX services. These developments are outlined, together with appropriate statistics.