Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has issued a decision stating that it has granted approval for Viva Bahrain to acquire 100% of Mena Telecom, despite earlier having ‘serious doubts’ about Viva’s ability to meet the requirements set out for mergers and acquisitions. In a meeting between the TRA and Viva in September, the two parties discussed the contentious issues surrounding the deal, following which the TRAconcluded that it no longer had serious doubts and that Viva’s plans complied with the necessary regulations. Nevertheless, the TRA has attached certain conditions to the merger, including that Viva (and/or the combined entity) must comply with the terms of Mena Telecom’s existing licences and that it must consult with the TRA on the early reassignment of the 3.5GHz spectrum band if the regulator decides that this band will be used for the deployment of 5G networks in Bahrain. For more information on the TRA’s approval decision, see link below.