Telecom consumers saved BD74 million In 2014!

Manama : Mobile and fixed broadband consumers in Bahrain enjoy significant price reduction for services offered, thanks to the highly competitive market shaped by vibrant regulatory and legislative policies. 

This, according to a TRA report, has helped consumers here to save at least BD74 Million in 2014, compared to year 2008.  

This was revealed in the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) independent report titled “Consumer Surplus and the Impact of Competition for Telecommunications Services in Bahrain” prepared by the expert economic consultancy Berkley Research Group (BRG). 

The report presents BRG’s estimate of the change in consumers’ valuation of mobile and fixed broadband services between 2008 and 2014. 

The study also confirms the effectiveness of policies and regulatory actions that have been taken to stimulate competition. 

The study suggests that prices could increase by 10 per cent if there were only two mobile operators. If there were only one mobile operator and no regulation, then there would be a loss of about ½ to 2/3rds of consumer surplus, which means that consumers would be significantly worse off.

The analysis shows that the total estimated consumer surplus for mobile services and fixed broadband services was BD133m in 2008 and BD207m in 2014, which is an increase in consumer surplus of BD74m.