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80pc customers satisfied with Bahraini telecom services

MANAMA, November 19, 2014

More than 80 per cent of customers are satisfied with their telecommunications services in Bahrain, according to the latest Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) survey.

The results also indicated an increased number of people are choosing mobiles over traditional landlines, with one in three people owning two mobiles, said a report in the Gulf Daily news (GDN), our sister publication.

However, SMS text messages are less popular than ever thanks to the introduction of services such as WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, despite the number of fixed line users decreasing the average number of calls made from fixed lines increased, according to the survey carried out in May.

The survey examined use of and access to different service providers including fixed lines, mobile phones and Internet services.

“Satisfaction levels with fixed line services have improved since 2007 in all categories measured, including overall satisfaction with the fixed line telephone service, its quality of service, the quality of customer services and the price of national calls,” said TRA consumer affairs director Shaikh Abdulla bin Humood Al Khalifa.

“In particular, the majority of respondents are very satisfied with their fixed line service provider.”

He explained that more people were focusing on the quality of service rather than price.

“Residential customers are gradually moving from price-oriented expectations towards service delivery,” said Shaikh Abdulla.

“An increasing proportion, from 25 per cent in 2011 to 48 per cent in 2014, would like to see the quality of service improved for fixed line, while 60 per cent of respondents in 2014 want a reduction in tariff/charges compared with 74 per cent in 2011.”

It found competitive rates of providers meant that one in every three people in Bahrain used more than one mobile phone.

“Bahrain continues to be a largely pre-paid mobile market, with 73pc of respondents having a pre-paid connection in 2014,” said TRA market and competition director Mohammed Al Binali.

“However, the proportion of respondents who have a post-paid connection has gone up from 12 per cent in 2011 to 27 per cent in 2014.

“The average number of national calls from mobile has slightly increased from 29 calls per week in 2011 to 32 calls per week in 2014.

“There has been a significant increase in the use of mobile-based value-added services in 2014, in particular for checking e-mails, Internet browsing and mobile VoIP.”

With a significant increase in mobile-based value-added services like Viber, WhatsApp and BlackBerry Messenger, the number of people sending SMS messages has fallen exponentially from 20 SMS a week in 2011 to only four SMS a week in 2014. - TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Bahrain | Telecom | services | customers |

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