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Bubashait ...significant growth

Bahrain telecom sector revenues top $1.1bn

MANAMA, July 30, 2016

Bahrain's telecom sector revenues reached BD450 million ($1.193 billion) in 2015, a growth of 4.7 per cent compared with BD430 million in 2014, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) latest market indicators report said.

Furthermore, the sector revenues registered a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.6 per cent over the last six years (2010-2015), it said.
 
Telecommunications operators invested BD49 million in 2015. To meet the growing demand for innovative services, mobile subscription and data usage, there has been significant investment of BD473 million over the last six years. This in turn supported the kingdom’s economic growth, it added.

TRA’s general director Mohammed Bubashait noted: “Despite intense competition, sector revenue grew by BD20 million between 2014 and 2015. Looking forward, this growth is expected to continue with the implementation of the government policy outlined in the Fourth National Telecommunications Plan. This plan will enhance the ability of the kingdom and its citizens to achieve a range of societal, growth, and economic diversification objectives.”

Furthermore, the growth in revenue between 2014 and 2015 meant that consumers have benefited from operators introducing innovative services.

According to the latest indicators, at the end of the second quarter of 2016, there were about 2.8 million mobile subscriptions in Bahrain, representing a mobile penetration rate of 201 per cent. The mobile market in Bahrain remains predominantly prepaid, representing 80 per cent of total mobile subscriptions.

The number of postpaid subscriptions increased by 5 per cent between Q2 2015 and Q2 2016, mainly due to attractive postpaid offers, including handset subsidies.  

At the end of Q2 2016, there were approximately 2 million broadband subscriptions, representing a broadband penetration rate of 145 per cent. Mobile broadband subscriptions continued to grow, representing 91.7 per cent of the total broadband subscriptions base in Q2 2016. Fixed wired broadband  subscriptions have started to increase after a period of decline as a result of the more attractive retail offers being introduced following the deregulation of the residential broadband market in 2014, the report said.
 
Market indicators also show that the sector maintained its level of employment during the last couple of years, with 3,200 employees working in the telecommunications sector in Bahrain at the end of 2015. Sector employment also achieved a high degree of Bahrainisation of 68 per cent. -TradeArabia News Service
 




Tags: Bahrain | Telecom | TRA |

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