Telecom company 2Connect has welcomed a Bahrain Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) decision to restore its licences, even as founder and managing director Fahad Al Shirawi announced he was resigning.

'We are pleased to hear that the TRA intends to restore our licences and we thank them for their support during this period,' a company statement said.

'We also thank our clients for their faith and patience during the past month and greatly appreciate their loyalty and trust in our company and promise to continue to provide them with the best possible telecom services and support.'

It said Al Shirawi, whose successor would be named shortly, had decided to step down for personal reasons after seven years at 2Connect.

'We thank him for his contributions, tireless work ethics and dedication to 2Connect,' the company said.

'Al Shirawi would now concentrate on his role as a board member of RIPE NCC, an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet through technical co-ordination in its service region.

'At a later stage, Al Shirawi plans to invest in cloud applications focused around regional needs,' the statement said.

The company's licences were ordered cancelled by the TRA on March 22, reportedly after an unspecified security issue, when its customers were also given until April 23 to move to other operators.-TradeArabia News Service