The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain (TRA) has released its latest retail price benchmark study of telecommunications services in Arab countries. The study was commissioned by TRA on behalf of the Arab Regulators Group (AREGNET), and it was undertaken by Strategy Analytics. The study shows that the prices of telecommunications services in Bahrain continue to compare well with other GCC and Arab countries. Bahrain also improved during 2015 against developed countries in the OECD, comparing well particularly for fixed broadband and mobile broadband prices, which are lower in Bahrain than the OECD average. 

The study also shows that customers in Bahrain have benefited from a wide range of retail telecom services and more data at lower prices. For instance, mobile prices fell by up to 55 percent and fixed broadband prices fell by up to 85 percent between 2010 and 2015. The price of residential ADSL broadband with speeds up to 10 Mbps reduced from BHD 80 in 2010 to BHD 20 in 2015, and the data allowance increased from 50GB to 150GB. Furthermore, the study shows that residential customers in Bahrain are starting to enjoy the benefits of ultra-fast broadband (above 100 Mbps). 

These findings are supported by a separate report published recently, at the end of November, by the International Telecommunications Union titled Measuring the Information Society Report. This report finds that Bahrain made the most progress in the ITU’s ICT Development Index value between 2010 and 2015 among the 167 economies covered. The ITU also found that the fixed broadband services have become very affordable in Bahrain, where the fixed-broadband basket represents less than 2 percent of GNI per capita, which is much less than the affordability target set by the internationally recognized Broadband Commission of 5 percent of average monthly income.