Bahrain's leading telecommunications company Batelco said it ended 2009 with an event that reflected the company’s zeal for constant transformation and advancement - it redesigned its brand - and added that it was looking forward to a solid year.

The sleek new design celebrates Batelco as a Bahraini icon, linking Batelco in colour and with the letter B, to the Kingdom of Bahrain, the company said in a statement.

During 2009 Batelco delivered on its promise to provide innovative products and services at value for money prices, achieved some major milestones and collected coveted awards, proving that it is not only a company with a changed face but one that recognises that positive renewal is necessary to meet Bahrain’s evolving telecommunication demands, said its top official.
 
“Bahrain’s ongoing and dynamic change and its residents’ advanced communications’ needs are the driving forces that continually inspire Batelco to set challenging targets, reach higher and deliver more; and when we reach our target, set new goals,” said Batelco chief executive Bahrain Gert Rieder.

“The new, modern look encompasses all the integrity, spirit and heart that has evolved over our long history and which is today an integral part of Batelco,” Rieder added.

According to him, many of Batelco’s accomplishments for 2009 have strengthened the company’s reputation regionally as a company of reference in the industry.

"Batelco introduced its state-of-the-art Next Generation Network (NGN), making it the first telecommunication provider in the world to offer nationwide Broadband coverage. Batelco engineers and technicians worked in conjunction with specialists from Huawei, a world renowned next generation telecommunication solution providers."

This service became available following the completion of the company’s $57 million project to migrate from the legacy network to NGN, a process which began in 2005, he explained.

The launch of Stel was another major achievement, Rieder pointed out. Stel, a Batelco Group joint venture company in partnership with the Chennai-based Siva Group, officially launched its mobile services recently in Himachal Pradesh and will launch in Bihar and Orissa shortly after commencing operation.

Batelco has a 49 per cent stake in S Tel and the Siva group holds 51 per cent stake. Additionally, STel has licences for Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam circles. This marks Batelco’s first venture into the Indian subcontinent, an area with great potential for growth.

Batelco, Rieder said, began to offer the fastest high speed broadband connection in the Kingdom with the release of it’s up to 16 Mbps package on the 16th of December. This marks another addition to Batelco’s extensive residential and business broadband packages.

According to Rieder, Batelco received recognition for its excellence at a number of prestigious regional award ceremonies for its achievements in 2009.

The company won the awards for 'Best NGN Operator of the Year,' for its investment in the 1st nationwide broadband NGN network, and 'Best Telecom Deal of the Year,' for its expansion into the Indian market through Stel, at the the second Annual Saamena Regional Awards 2009, which took place in tandem with the “Convergence to Istanbul” conference held at the Ciragan Palace, Kempinski Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Batelco’s executive management and staff are poised to build on the successes of 2009 and deliver a raft of new and relevant products and services that aim to keep our customers among the best connected in Bahrain and the region,”  Rieder added.-TradeArabia News Service