With telecom sector contributed 4.7 per cent to the GDP, the telecom sector revenues witnessed a steady growth by reaching BD338 million at end of 2009, an increase of 11.6 per cent over 2008, according to the official figures.
In its latest Market Indicators Report released by the telecommunication regulatory authority (TRA) on Sunday, the telecom watchdog said overall the year 2009 was a good year.
The TRA in its fourth telecommunications markets indicators report said that the revenues from the mobile telephony represent the majority of the telecommunications services revenues of almost 50 per cent of the total revenues.
This report covers a large range of telecommunications services indicators, such as the number of subscribers, penetration rates, calls usage and telecommunications revenues. The information included in this report is based on data provided by operators and historical data held by TRA.
There was a growth 38% in the number of staff working in the telecommunications sector since liberalisation.
“By the end of Q3 2010, there were approximately 229,000 fixed lines in Bahrain, and about 1.5 million mobile subscribers in Bahrain. About 92% of national mobile traffic is mobile to mobile traffic,” it said.
The report said the international traffic is still growing rapidly as between 2008 and 2009; international traffic grew by 55 per cent. About 72 per cent of total international outgoing minutes were made to South Asian countries in 2009.
“Revenues originated from calls to zone 2 represented 48 per cent of the total international revenues in 2009,” it said.
“The number of broadband subscribers increased by 25 per cent between Q3 2009 and Q3 2010 as at the end of Q3 2010 there were about 188,000 broadband subscribers in Bahrain. Out of which 44 per cent of broadband subscribers are fixed wireless subscribers at the end of Q3 2010. Mobile broadband doubled between Q4 2009 and Q3 2010 to reach about 36,000 subscribers,” the report added.
“Our mission in TRA is to develop a competition led market for the provision of innovative communications services, available to all,” said Dr. Mohammed Al Amer, TRA’s Chairman.
“This report clearly indicates that we are moving in the right direction and achieving our mission towards having a communications environment that enriches the social and commercial fabric of the Kingdom of Bahrain,” he said.
“It was another good year for the telecommunications sector as evidenced by the growth in the number of subscribers, usage, penetrations, and revenues. Today consumers are enjoying an increasingly diversified choice of providers from which to choose their communications services,” he added.