“Bahrain which enjoys the most liberalised telecom sector in the region will continue play a vital role in reshaping and developing the national economy,” the CEO of Zain Bahrain, Mohammed Zainal Abidin, in an interview told The24X7News.
“The year 2013 is very special for Zain Bahrain, for example, we signed F1 McLaren team and also rolled out the 4G services. In addition Zain Bahrain’s IPO was backed by the Cabinet and now the company was finalising the modalities and evaluation for the IPO offering,” Mohammed said, adding that the IPO size and other technical details would be made public the moment we get the worked out details in this regard.
The CEO of Zain, on the sidelines of the Zain Bahrain Ghabgha which held at Bushido Restaurant in Seef, said that Zain Bahrain was close to finish the network modernisation project which cost the company over $100 million. “We are expecting that the network modernisation project will be completed by the year-end or early 2014 adding a new dimension to the existing services and data handling capabilities,” he said.
“Zain Bahrain is working with all major technology players to offer the best of best to its customers especially in data services, which are seen a growth engine for the entire telecom sector in Bahrain.
Highlighting the role being played by Zain Bahrain as one of the major telecom players in the development of the economy, he said that Government Bahrain’s emphasis on supporting the telecom sector would impact very positively on the growth of the companies as well as direct impact on the national economy. “Bahrain has an independent telecom affairs ministry which shows the leadership’s vision and support to the sector.”
Talking about data services he said this segment would be driving force behind the overall growth of the telecom sector in Bahrain. “Keeping in view the growing needs of the social media as a future challenge, Zain Bahrain is working on upgrading the web portal and investing in capabilities. In this scenario the telecom companies have to draw a very fine line between the level services and prices for such services. This balance has turned Bahraini telecom market as one of the most sophisticated ones in the region,” he added.