Batelco is committed to reaching out to the Kingdom of Bahrain and helping it stay ahead on multi-levels, from investment in telephony product and services to many focused community programmes, such as helping to provide education facilities to pre-school children, according to Batelco Corporate Affairs General Manager Ahmed Janahi.
With a focus on community support, he acknowledged that as the leading, integrated, telecommunications company in Bahrain, Batelco is as committed to social responsibility as it is to ensuring that the Kingdom continues to lead in telecommunications.
Mr. Janahi is scheduled to take part in a panel session on workable corporate social responsibility programmes at the upcoming conference on Corporate-Community partnerships (in Amman Jordan, November 3-4 2007).
“Batelco is committed to supporting the community in all aspects of lifestyle, not just in ensuring that the national’s telecommunications experience is second-to-none,” stated Mr. Al Janahi.
“So far this year we have donated almost BD5 million to various projects, from supplying computers to nursery schools, to distributing gifts to hospitalized children during the holy month of Ramadan.”
Among those who benefited during this past quarter were thousands of needy families, as part of the Company’s annual Ramadan programme. During the Holy month, Batelco distributed over 18,000 food baskets to them through Bahrain’s Charity Funds. In addition, Batelco also presented BD450,000 to Al Noor Charity Association and BD25,000 to Bahrain Red Crescent Society. These recent contributions are in addition to a donation of BD800,000 to support Batelco Care Centre for Family Violence Cases given earlier in 2007. Batelco also presented BD700,000 to complete the Company’s commitment, totaling BD1.5 million, to the King Hamad Schools of the Future project and continues to be a major supporter of the Crown Prince Scholarship for Excellence.
“The community can always depend on our support; it is our way of saying thank you for their loyalty to us over the years,” he added.
Batelco’s focus is on four key areas of the community, which it will continue to support in a strategic manner. These are education, health, art & culture, and sport.
Mr. Janahi shared that in order to become more structured and result-driven with community donations, a user-friendly online application process was introduced earlier this year.
“With our new online CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) application system, we make sure that everyone gets a reply within 48 hours.”
He said that a study was being carried out for the establishment of a stand-alone Batelco foundation, dedicated to ensuring that CSR funds are even more strategically and tangibly allocated for best use and outcome. He indicated that this could be up and running by 2009.
Turning back to the market, Mr. Janahi said that Batelco has invested more than US$1.4 billion in Bahrain’s telecoms infrastructure over the past 26 years, ensuring the provision of world-class services for consumers, businesses and new entrants to market.
“We remain focused on improving customers’ telecommunications experience in Bahrain through the on-going implementation of enhanced services and latest technologies, as well as ensuring that we support other aspects of the community,” he said.
He confirmed that Batelco will continue its contribution to the Kingdom’s telecommunications infrastructure and community.
“We will continue to re-invent our operating models to deliver to the demands of the ‘new era’ customer in Bahrain across all lifestyle touch points including trough CSR programmes, while ensuring that we maintain market leadership in the face of economic shifts and changes,” Mr. Al Janahi concluded.
About Batelco
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) is the leading integrated communications provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain and an emerging force among the regions key telecommunications players.
Batelco serves both the corporate and consumer markets in the most liberalised and competitive environment in the Middle East, and remains committed to delivering cutting-edge telecommunications to its customers in Bahrain and the MENA region. The Company’s management and staff are driven by an enthusiasm for delivering the best customer experience based on innovation, affordability and reliability of products and services.
Batelco’s specialised services cover the full spectrum of telecommunications solutions for residential and business customers and span a comprehensive range of mobile services, international roaming, high-speed Internet connections, satellite services, WiFi, MPLS IP-VPN network provisioning and management, Datacoms services over fixed, wireless and internet platforms, managed services, systems integration and enterprise solutions.
Batelco has invested US$1.4 billion in Bahrain’s telecom infrastructure over the past 26 years, including significant investment in Next Generation Networks infrastructure which has reinforced the Kingdom’s position as a leading communications hub. The Company’s shares are listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange with a total capitalization of approx US$ 3.2 billion as of September 2007.
With an ongoing strategy to grow overseas, the Batelco Group incorporates joint venture operations in Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
