Household broadband penetration in Bahrain reaches 62%

The percentage of Bahraini households having fixed broadband reached 62 per cent with more than 109,000 residential customers as of Q2 2009, states a market indicator report released by Bahrain’s regulator yesterday. Total Internet subscribers across the kingdom totalled almost 140,000, equating to an Internet penetration level of 12 per cent. Approximately 40 per cent of broadband subscribers had speeds of 1Mbps or more.

Other figures released by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority show that as of the second quarter of last year, mobile penetration slightly decreased from 130 per cent in 2008, to 118 per cent. Mobile subscribers reached nearly 1.4 million, of which 83 per cent were prepaid customers.

Fixed lines increased during the period from 220,000 to 230,000 representing a penetration rate of 20 per cent. The proportion of households with a fixed line remained steady at 78 per cent, the same as in 2008.

International traffic grew rapidly between Q2 2008 and Q2 2009 increasing by 50 per cent, with the bulk of international minutes (87 per cent) originating from mobile.

About 72 per cent of international calls were made to South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka) in the second quarter of 2009. Revenues originated from calls to South Asian countries represented 45 per cent of the total revenues during the quarter.