Batelco, Bahrain’s leading telecom provider, has added a number of new international operators as part of its Unified Local Data Roaming Rates scheme.

International Roaming can cost between BD5 ($13.26) and BD7 per megabyte but under Batelco’s local unified rates, customers only pay BD0.6 per megabyte when they roam with the designated international operators.

Batelco introduced Unified Roaming Rates in 2009 for data roaming in a number of regional countries. The original line-up included Saudi Arabia (AlJawal & Mobily), UAE (Etisalat & du), Qatar (Qtel), Kuwait (Wataniya & Viva), Oman (Nawras), Egypt (Mobinil), Jordan (Umniah) and Yemen (Sabafon).

Now in this new delivery which will be a massive benefit for Batelco’s customers, Batelco has extended its line-up of operators to include providers outside of the GCC and Arab region.

The new operators are O2 (UK), Moviles Espana (Spain), O2 (Czech Republic) and O2 (Ireland).

Batelco Group general manger Media Relations Ahmed Al Janahi said that the addition of these new international locations was fantastic news for Batelco’s customers and would make a huge difference by saving them money.

“The unified data roaming local rates are a boon for the business sector allowing business executives to keep in touch with their colleagues in Bahrain in a very cost effective manner by using their Blackberry or Smartphone devices at Bahrain local data rates while they are on business travel throughout all GCC, selected Arab Countries and the new international locations.”

“The unified rates also benefit tourists from Bahrain who can share all the fun of their visits to these locations by sending photos and video clips to their loved ones at home without having to worry about running up high roaming bills,” he added.

Batelco’s customers may also download information, browse the net and send/receive emails at the unified rates, on their laptops or any PC, by using Batelco O-net devices. Information about the variety of O-net devices and packages can be found on Batelco’s website batelco.com.

Batelco has agreements with more than 450 operators worldwide for all services, the largest network of any telecommunications company in Bahrain. The full list of operators and their locations is available on Batelco’s website.

“Demand for lower international data roaming rates has been requested by many of our customers and we are delighted to have been able to cooperate with some of our international roaming partners to respond to this need,” Al Janahi.

“Batelco is committed to delivering a world class experience for its customers no matter where they roam and will continue to work to deliver the best deals for our customers,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service