https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=46.184.246.192Wikipedia - User contributions [en]2026-07-08T11:46:10ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.44.0https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Telecommunications_in_Bahrain&diff=63568Telecommunications in Bahrain2024-12-28T22:49:07Z<p>46.184.246.192: </p>
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<div>{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --><br />
'''Telecommunications in [[Bahrain]]''' are provided by the Bahrain Telecommunications Company, trading as [[Batelco]], as well as other companies such as [[Zain Group|Zain]] and [[stc Group|STC.]]<ref name=RE/> <br />
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Prior to 1981 telecommunications services were provided by two separate departments: national services were provided by the Bahrain Telephone Company and international services by [[Cable & Wireless plc|Cable & Wireless]] of the [[United Kingdom]]. These were combined in 1981 to form Batelco. Since then, other telecommunications companies have entered the market.<ref name=RE/><br />
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==History==<br />
When Batelco was founded in 1981, Bahrain had 45,627 [[telephone lines]] in use. By 1982, the number reached 50,000. In 1985, the country's first [[fibre optic]] cable was installed. Batelco was a [[monopoly]] in the telecommunications sector until 2003. By 1999, the company had around 100,000 mobile contracts.<ref name=RE>{{cite book|title=Report: Bahrain 2008|year=2008|pages=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHmo2jjjb2AC&q=history+Bahrain&pg=PA153}}</ref><br />
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In 2002, under pressure from international bodies, Bahrain implemented its telecommunications law which included the establishment of an independent [[Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain|Telecommunications Regulatory Authority]] (TRA).<ref name=RE/> In 2003, Batelco's monopoly over the sector ended when the TRA awarded a licence to [[MTC Vodafone]], which later re-branded itself as [[Zain Group|Zain]].<ref name=RE/> In January 2010, Viva Bahrain, which later re-branded into STC Bahrain (a subsidiary of [[Saudi Telecom Company|STC]]) started operations in Bahrain.<br />
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==Telephonic services==<br />
In 2006, there were 194,200 telephones [[landline|main lines]] in Bahrain.<br />
:''county comparison to the world:'' 124<br />
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In 2007, there were 1,116,000 [[mobile phone|mobile cellular]] contracts in Bahrain.<br />
:''county comparison to the world:'' 132<br />
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'''Telephone system:'''<br />
*''general assessment:'' modern system<br />
*''domestic:'' modern [[fiber-optic]] integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones<br />
* ''international:'' country code - 973; landing point for the Fire-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) [[submarine communications cable|submarine cable]] network that provides links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, and US; tropospheric scatter to Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite earth station - 1 (2007)<br />
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==Broadcast radio==<br />
'''Radio broadcast stations:''' AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)<br />
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==Broadcast television==<br />
'''[[Television]] broadcast stations:''' 4 (1997)<br />
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==Internet service==<br />
{{main|Internet in Bahrain}}<br />
'''[[Internet country code]]:''' .bh<br />
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'''Internet hosts:''' 2,621 (2008)<br />
:''country comparison to the world:'' 135<br />
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'''Internet users:''' 250,000 (2007)<br />
:''country comparison to the world:'' 124<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Bahrain]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{CIA World Factbook|year=2009}}<br />
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{{Bahrain topics}}<br />
{{Asia topic|Telecommunications in}}<br />
{{Telecommunications}}<br />
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[[Category:Telecommunications in Bahrain| ]]</div>46.184.246.192