Telecommunications in Bahrain officially began in 1981 when the Bahraini government founded the Bahrain Telecommunications Company. Since then, other companies such as Zain and VIVA have entered the telecommunications sector.
Contents
History
When Batelco was first founded in 1981, Bahrain already had 45,627 telephone lines in use. By 1982, the number reached 50,000. In 1985, the country's first fibre optic cable was installed. Batelco enjoyed being a monopoly in the telecommunications sector for the next two decades. By 1999, the company had around 100,000 mobile contracts.
In 2002, under pressure from international bodies, Bahrain implemented its telecommunications law which included the establishment of an independent Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). In 2003, Batelco's monopoly over the sector broke when the TRA awarded a license to MTC Vodafone, which later re-branded itself as Zain. In January 2010, VIVA (a subsidiary of STC) started operations in Bahrain.
Telephonic services
Telephones - main lines in use: 194,200 (2006)
county comparison to the world: 124
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,116,000 (2007)
county comparison to the world: 132Telephone system:
Broadcast radio
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Broadcast television
Television broadcast stations: 4 (1997)
Internet service
Internet country code: .bh
Internet hosts: 2,621 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 135Internet users: 250,000 (2007)
country comparison to the world: 124