The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) Bahrain has released the 2011 update of the retail price benchmarking study of telecommunications services in Arab countries.
The report titled ‘2011 Retail Price Benchmarking Study of Telecommunications Services in Arab Countries’ released on Wednesday stated that broadband prices fell 40 per cent in Bahrain while mobile prices decreased by 25 per cent in 2011 compared with the 2010.
This study was commissioned by TRA on behalf of the Arab Regulators Network (AREGNET). It was undertaken by Teligen, an independent consulting firm specialising in tariff comparisons.
Over 2010-2011, prices for telecommunications services in Arab countries have generally declined, although as prices have also been falling in other parts of the world, there remains an often substantial difference between prices in Arab countries and prices in OECD / European countries.
“It is obvious from the benchmarking study that competition in the telecommunications sector in Bahrain is delivering benefits to consumers through a variety of telecommunications services and increasingly competitive prices. It is encouraging to see Bahrain performing well when compared with other Arab countries and with OECD in some benchmarks,” Ghada Al Qassab TRA’s Consumer Affairs Manager, said.
“Based on the time series provided in the study the prices for some services have gone down significantly in the last four years. However there are still some areas that require closer attention and in particular higher speed broadband services and leased lines. This study is important to understand how we are doing in achieving our mission of developing a competition-led market for the provision of innovative communications services, available to all,” Al Qassab, added.
The benchmark compares the costs of baskets of telecommunications services for different consumer profiles (e.g. low, medium, high usage). It is comprehensive in terms of services and geographic coverage, and includes fixed voice services, mobile services, leased lines, broadband, and for the first time mobile broadband. It covers all Arab countries, and also includes comparisons with the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
“Bahrain is one of the cheapest Arab countries compared with other Arab and OECD countries in terms of the cost of a basket of fixed voice services. Mobile prices in Bahrain have fallen by up to 25% since 2010. Bahrain compares well with other Arab countries. Leased line prices in Bahrain are similar to prices in the Arab region, although by OECD standards, leased line tariffs in Bahrain remain high. TRA believes that competitive leased line services are important in order to ensure Bahrain remains an attractive business location,” the study revealed.
Broadband prices in Bahrain, the study said, have fallen by up to 40% between the 2010 and 2011 studies, but broadband services in Bahrain remain significantly more expensive than the OECD average.