With mobile competitors just months away from entering the market and the potential for conflict in the region on the horizon, Bahrain’s Telecommunications company (Batelco), returned a set of robust financial results.
Financial year 2002 was a tumultuous time for the world’s telecommunications industry. Difficult market conditions, made worse by cases of questionable corporate governance, plunged the global telecoms and Information Technology (IT) industry into gloom.
Against a backdrop, Batelco has achieved a total revenue increase by none percent to 185.8 million Bahraini dinars ($492.77 million), and the net profit, before appropriations, by nine percent to stand at BD58 million. This amounts to a 21 percent return on capital employed.
During 2002, the number of mobile communications users in Bahrain increased to over 390,000, representing 52 percent of the local population. Batelco’s mobile communications business generated gross revenue of BD72 million, constituting 39 percent of the company’s overall gross revenue for the period, and representing 34 percent growth against last year’s figure.
The Batelco team that delivered this performance is made up of 95 percent Bahraini nationals. “Batelco will be ‘fighting fit’ when competitors enter Bahrain’s telecommunications market,” said Batelco’s First Deputy Chairman Shaikh Isa Bin Ebrahim Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa.
“The challenge of competition is forcing us to abandon the old technology-led traditions of monopoly telecoms operators and, instead, focus sharply on the customer and what the customer wants—NOT what the company thinks the customer should have!”
“Batelco is very serious about welcoming competitors. Competition will mean we will lose some customers. That happens in any change from a monopoly, but this is very much about growing the overall telecoms market in Bahrain,” he said.
The main thrust of activities in the past months was to make Batelco more customer-friendly and efficient, so that consumers will be less inclined to 'jump ship' and sign up with new players in the market, according to a company press release.
“Reducing charges, improving the ‘customer experience’ and tailor-making products that meet niche demands are all part of the plan to make the mobile offer more attractive to the Bahrain market,” said Batelco’s Chief Executive Tony Hart.
This spring Batelco plans to launch four new mobile phone packages. Part of that will be ideas that will force down prices. “One long awaited move is a revamp of billing and credit-control services,” said Hart. “Batelco plans to send bills at around the time most monthly salaries are paid, which will result in less disconnections. Customers will be given more time to settle their bills so less people will be cut off.”
All the positive changes of the last few months will not avoid a drop in headcount among the workforce. “Monopoly phone operators the world over have been over-staffed, and have been forced to slim down to become competitive,” Hart insists Batelco will be no different. “Batelco has a duty to its customers, its shareholders and its employees and refusing to face economic facts will do no favors for our workforce in the long run. The issue of job losses has been communicated in an open and honest fashion.”
The company will shortly be announcing details of ‘packages’ for employees who volunteer to leave Batelco. “This is a difficult time, but we have worked hard with the Union to develop a package to help us reduce numbers by voluntary means. We have spent months working on reducing the numbers we will have to let go. It’s a tough time for all of us, not helped by the many rumors in the market.”
“Our workforce continues to be our most valuable asset. But in our review we found we had too few skilled personnel in some areas and too many in others. This has been about ‘rightsizing’, getting our many sets of skills, talent and expertise exactly where we need them in order to get ready for the competition.” — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
