Business & Finance Club - Manama : Broadband prices in Bahrain have fallen by 50 per cent in the past two years, but there is still room for improvement, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

The TRA has released the 2010 update of the Arab Basket Benchmarking Study for telecommunications services.

The study undertaken by Teligen, an independent consulting firm specialised in tariff comparison, was commissioned by the TRA on behalf of the Arab Regulators Network (Aregnet).

The study provides a comprehensive comparative study of prices for telecommunications services between 22 Aregnet member countries.

Bahrain appears to compares well with both Arab and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of result, according to the study.

Mobile operators in Bahrain are doing well compared to their peers in the region and in OECD countries.

By international standards, leased lines tariffs are still not competitive and this is an area where improvements are required in order to ensure Bahrain remains an attractive business location with competitively priced services for business users, according to the TRA, as no improvements were observed since the issue of the first study in June 2008.

But broadband prices in Bahrain have gone down by up to 50 per cent over the last two years but there is still room for improvement when compared to European benchmarks though the price of a business medium speed broadband (1-4Mbit/s) is still four times greater than the European average.

'In a world in which nations compete to attract international businesses and promote economic development, it is essential that telecommunications services are competitively priced,' said TRA chairman and acting general director Mohammed Al Amer.

'It is rewarding to see that Bahrain compares well for some services both regionally and to the wider OECD benchmarks.

'However, there are still some areas that require closer attention and in particular higher speed broadband access and leased lines.

'On balance, the results demonstrate the considerable benefits that liberalisation of the markets and the development of sustainable competition can deliver.'