Oxford Business Group talks to Alan Horne, General Director, TRA

In an exclusive interview with Oxford Business Group (OBG), Alan Horne said:

"STC had been granted the third mobile licence in Bahrain on the basis of a wide selection of criteria which included worldwide subscription base, foreign-based operations, technical infrastructure and quality of service."

STC has been developing innovative content and 3G-based services which sit well with Bahrain's position at the forefront of the Middle East's telecommunications industry. "It is anticipated that consumers will benefit through these developments and the economies of both scale and scope of STC's regional and international business," Horne said.

The interview will feature in The Report: Bahrain 2009, the most comprehensive and accurate review of the country's economy available, which is soon to be published by OBG. Rated as the premier source of information for foreign direct investment into the country's economy, it will be a vital guide to the many facets of Bahrain, including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, political landscape, banking and sectoral developments.

The Report: Bahrain 2009 has been produced by a team of OBG analysts based in Bahrain who conducted some 200 interviews with leading political and economic figures. Alan Horne is one of the experts interviewed in The Report: Bahrain 2009, where the full version of his interview will appear.

Horne said that the new services will include Number Portability, where consumer will enjoy the freedom to move between service providers for better deals and has the ability to keep the same number. This service will be available towards the end of 2009 for fixed line and mobile services

He was positive about the achievements that TRA had made during its presidency of the Arab Regulators Network (AREGNT), citing three key documents which were produced during the Authority's tenure.

"We ended up with a document on consumer protection guidelines, one on harmonisation of licensing and a regional benchmarking study on pricing," he said. These, he added, were proving significant with the movement of people throughout the region and operators buying licences in more than one country.

With consumer protection rising higher on the agenda, the Consumer Advisory Group is playing an increasingly active role in providing TRA with feedback on its proposed regulations and ways in which the consumer could be better protected. Horne pointed out that both the Consumer Advisory Group and the Business Advisory Group were naturally moving outside of their immediate remit.

"The advisory group is almost becoming the user group for some of the major operators," he said. "It is gaining momentum and getting more valuable feedback as it goes. Similarly, the Business Advisory Group is beginning to understand that it is not just representing its own business but all of the country's businesses and currently they are in the process of creating an Independent Business Users Associations."

Available in print form and online, The Report: Bahrain 2009 will form part of the range of OBG's publications renowned as leading sources of information on developing and emerging economies around the world.