Batelco, the leading telecom in the Middle East, retains its position as the market leader for mobile services in Bahrain although its total subscriber numbers declined slightly since Q2 and 10% year over year. This is an expected consequence of the third mobile operator's entrance into the market and subsequent aggressive offers and market competition. It is also a reflection of the Bahrain market itself which is characterized by high levels of penetration for mobile (over 140%) and for fixed broadband (0ver 100% of households and businesses).

Wireless broadband services continue on a strong growth trajectory, up 13% quarter-on- quarter with impressive overall gains of 75% when compared with the corresponding period last year. Conversely, fixed line services in the Kingdom, as elsewhere globally, have continued to decline as more and more customers migrate to mobile services.

"Batelco's ability to maintain its market leadership in mobile services and broadband in the face of aggressive competition can be attributed to a sharp focus on delivering greater value, choice and service to our customers," said Shaikh Mohamed. "We have pursued this strategy by working to enhance our competitiveness through effective cost management and operational efficiency as well as through ongoing product and service innovation to support customer retention and to encourage higher usage per customer."

Towards this end, Batelco introduced a number of attractive new mobile and broadband offers during Q3. These included initiatives such as the launch of B-Lite, the first Batelco branded phone for prepaid customers, which delivers in-demand features such as camera, radio, advanced music player, internet access and Bluetooth. Other key initiatives included the release of further "Nice Numbers" and the launch of weekly BlackBerry® for SimSim service, a first for Batelco and the Kingdom of Bahrain, providing more choice, flexibility and savings for customers and roamers with heavy demand for data usage with an option to pay as they go.

Batelco has also added a number of new international operators to its unified local data roaming line-up, extending savings for customers when roaming beyond the Middle East region to new countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Czech Republic (O2) and Spain (Moviles Espana).

Similarly, innovation in broadband also continued with enhanced service and packages offering higher speeds and higher usage thresholds at no additional price increase. This is in addition to the introduction of complementary broadband services such as the launch of the CCTV and IPTV, one of the most innovative products to be delivered to residents in the Kingdom, which will allow users to access digital television channels via Batelco's broadband lines as well as gain access to other advanced and interactive services including Video on Demand content.

This press release has been issued by Batelco Corporate Affairs department. For further information, please contact Batelco Public Relations Office This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / Fax +973 17611898