Bahrain is fast moving ahead with plans to launch the sixth National Telecommunications plan that would lay the foundation of the Kingdom’s telecommunications policy for years from 2023 to 2026.
The move follows section 15 of the Legislative Decree no.48, promulgating the Telecommunications Law.
Accordingly, a Request For Proposal (RFP) launched by the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, the tender board says, attracted bids from two international companies, including BHD 522,633.990 from Arthur D Little (Bahrain) and BHD 700,000.000 from The Boston Consulting Group International.
Tender board’s bid status indicated that both bids now stand accepted. The RFP was for appointing a consultant to assist the ministry in developing and formulating the Sixth National Telecommunication plan and provide assistance in implementation.
However, the board also clarifies that the lower bidder should not necessarily receive the contract as price becomes the principal criterion only after fulfilling technical and other criteria.
The tender for formulating the Fifth National Plan for the 2019 to 2022 period had attracted three players, including Analysys Mason FZ-LL (BHD 179,640.000), Intercai Mondiale Limited WLL (BHD 131,725.00), and Frontier Economics Ltd (BHD 125,482.00).
It’s worth knowing that the First National Telecommunications Plan introduced by the Kingdom in 2003 aimed to liberalize crucial economic sectors, including telecom, to rapidly create a free market environment attractive to new private sector entrants.
The first document acknowledged the government’s interest in encouraging Batelco to thrive by responding constructively and fairly to competition. The successful implementation also paved the way for further developments in the sector and further plans in the successive years, leading to the launch of the fifth NTP in 2020 that confirmed BNet as the Kingdom’s National provider of fiber-based fixed connectivity.
The policy document had confirmed that the Kingdom will not issue a new Fixed Telecommunications Infrastructure Network License to any new applicants during NTP5. However, the document also said that should BNet fail consistently to meet its obligations, the government may direct the authority to review the market to assess whether the existing market structure remains appropriate.
It has also said the authority, by August 2021, shall confirm whether BNet services are on an equitable basis and meet the 'reasonable' needs of all licensees. NTP5 also envisaged that the majority of consumers in the Kingdom should have access to 5G network and services during the policy period.
NTP5 also paved the way for encouraging Bahrain as an international cable route landing. It further said that the government requires consumers to benefit from improving average download speeds over time to meet evolving consumer requirements.
The plan also has aspirations for Bahrain to be among the leading countries regionally for download and upload speeds. It also identified the Kingdom’s economy and its prosperity as dependent on secure telecommunications and ICT infrastructure. The most recent policy document also aimed at ensuring that the Kingdom is at the center of new innovations in ICT services.