Telecom Lead Middle East: Bahrain has 1.69 million mobile
subscribers in the country at the end of 2011, up by 8 percent year-on-year
from 1.56 million at the end of 2010.
The main drawback for the mobile sector is the high
incidence of prepaid subscriptions, which accounted for 81.5 percent of total
mobile subscriptions at the end of December 2011.
The growth in mobile subscriptions in 2011 was mainly
driven by a surge in subscriber uptake during H2 2011, which reversed net
losses in H1 2011.
Broadband subscriptions will reach 513,000 by 2016,
equivalent to a penetration rate of about 36.1 percent.
Research and Markets said Bahrain’s fixed-line
penetration has increased marginally by 0.3 points to reach 18.3 percent at the
end of 2011. The performance of the fixed-line sector in 2011 is remarkable
considering the heightened political and economic risk during anti-government
protests that lasted for most of the year.
Over the next five years, Research and Markets expects
growth to be limited by the continued discounting of inactive lines and a shift
in focus to high-value postpaid subscriptions. Mobile growth will be slow in
the latter years of the forecast period. Research and Markets expects 1.75
million subscribers by the end of 2016, with penetration sliding to 123.1
percent.
UAE has the highest number of Twitter users in the GCC region
The usage of social media in the Middle East is increasing
at a phenomenal rate, with more and more internet users spending time on social
networks.
Around 50 percent of the UAE population is using Facebook while Bahrain has 36 percent and
Qatar 30 percent penetration of the same platform, according to a report
conducted and published by Dubai School of Government (DSG) in April 2011.
The GCC countries (with the exception of Saudi Arabia)
primarily prefer to use English on Facebook, most likely because of their large
English-speaking expatriate population.
editor@telecomlead.com
