Batelco's initiatives in Bahrain most critical to success of the group

Batelco's Bahrain operation continues to underpin the company's success. Batelco continues to make significant investments in the latest fixed and wireless telecommunications technologies and upgrade the Kingdom's telecommunications infrastructure for cable access to maintain Bahrain's key position as a regional telecommunication hub and the first choice for local and international companies.

Batelco has successfully attracted new business clients to place their network hubs in Bahrain by virtue of the state-of-the-art telecommunications and IT services that the company offers to the business sector. Global IP MPLS high speed managed services with significant diversity, LAN managed services, 3.5G wireless services, "one-stop-shop" complete solutions coupled with customer service and account management support, make Batelco and Bahrain a very attractive proposition for many clients. New clients also further stimulate competitive activity and investment in the Kingdom's telecommunications sector. To this end, Batelco invested BD 27 million in Bahrain's infrastructure during 2007.

To remain very competitive Batelco allocates further investment for the training and development of its staff to ensure they are on par with the latest developments in telecommunications, IT and management practices. Batelco has fully sponsored many of its staff, who have completed, or are now continuing their studies in universities and institutes inside and outside Bahrain. During 2007 alone, Batelco invested BD 1.4 million in training and development of its employees.

Recently, Batelco has promoted a number of its Bahraini staff to leading positions in Bahrain and overseas joint ventures and maintains a Bahrainisation level of 93%, one of the highest Bahranisation percentages in the Kingdom.

"We have announced on different occasions that we are working hard to transform Batelco to make it a key player in the telecommunications industry. We are moving steadily towards that end, supported by our ambitious strategy to achieve the group's long-term goals,"

stated Batelco Corporate Affairs General Manager, Mrs. Nadia Hussain.

"We realise the challenges ahead, including ongoing regulatory reform and feverish competition. We remain confident that our employees and management have the ability and passion to make the Batelco Group one of the companies that positions the Kingdom of Bahrain as one of the distinguished participants in the world telecommunications map," she added.

Batelco's social responsibility towards the local community is also a permanent item in the company's strategy. Batelco continues to appropriate a percentage of its annual profit for supporting a wide range of activities conducted by civil institutions to enhance the well-being of the community members. Also, Batelco rigorously co-ordinates with government organisations to implement major projects that offer services to a larger number of community members in all governorates.