TRA publishes a Renesys study on Bahrain Internet Ecosystem

The study, conducted by the Internet intelligence authority Renesys, is providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving relationships between Bahrain's Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the international telecommunications carriers serving Bahrain and the Region.

The report provides a detailed snapshot of the Internet Ecosystem as of August 2009, identifying key strengths and potential weaknesses of Bahrain's Internet connectivity, as well as some historical context to help the reader understand the present state of the market.

Highlight on some of the key findings:

• Bahrain is one of the most connected countries in the Region, in relation to the size of its population. Growth in the number of Internet-connected organizations indicates that active competition is happening in the domestic market.
• Bahrain's access to the Internet is periodically threatened by physical disruption to international network cables, causing instability and network congestion; however, the country's Internet access appears to be more consistently stable than many other regional markets.
• Bahrain's business customers lack true alternatives to diversify their Internet transit purchases and expand their eBusiness initiatives, in part due to capacity constraints of some market participants.
• Bahrain is falling behind in the creation of domestic Internet content, resulting in low domestic traffic volumes and significant traffic imbalances with the United States and Europe, where most popular content is currently hosted.

Additional highlights are provided concerning the role of Batelco, the Bahrain Internet Exchange (BIX), and key alternative ISPs in the growing diversification of the Internet Ecosystem.

"Global markets are increasingly competitive, and industry players and financial institutions have to make some critical business decisions in the current financial crisis. Availability and affordability of Internet services, capacity and content will be key elements in attracting foreign investment and sustaining competitive growth in the Kingdom in the coming years,"

said TRA General Director Alan Horne.

"Renesys was pleased to have the opportunity to work with the TRA to create this detailed study of the entire national Internet Ecosystem. We documented significant progress toward the development of a diverse, resilient set of relationships among Bahrain's emerging ISPs, their regional partners, and the key international providers who serve the region. Some work remains, but all the ingredients are here to support Bahrain's growth as a regional ICT center over the next decade," said James Cowie, Renesys Chief Technology Officer.

The full study is available on TRA and Renesys web sites and Report will be presented next Monday by Renesys and TRA during the 1st Europe - Middle East - North Africa Regional ITS Conference (20th European Regional ITS Conference), held in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 26 - 28 October 2009.