Mohammed Alhashili, Batelco’s Mobile Product Management boss, has stepped down as chairman of the GSM Arab World (GSMAW) mobile-phone industry group after three years. The newly-elected GSMAW Chairman is Khaled Ahmed from Mobinil in Egypt.
Operating as a subgroup of the GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile) Association, GSMAW represents the interests of members from the Pan-Arab countries.
One of the group’s main achievements during Alhashili’s chairmanship was the standardization of Arabic characters on mobile handsets, according to a group press release. “This is a significant step in the development of mobile telephony for the Arab-speaking world and will inevitably lead to growth in the market,” he commented.
In Bahrain, mobile telephony enjoys a market penetration of 52 percent, with customer numbers totaling 350,886 and mobile usage for the first half of this year generating gross revenue of 34.4 million Bahraini dinars, which amounts to 38 percent of the Batelco’s overall gross revenue for the period.
Batelco has spent nearly BD60 million since 1995 in mobile improvements, upgrades and expansion, and continues to invest heavily. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
