Bahrain says among world’s first to offer nationwide 5G coverage

All of the Gulf nation’s 1.5 million-strong population is now able to access the high-speed service, and investment experts hope that the roll-out will attract heavyweight tech firms in the post-Covid era.

Bahrain’s telecoms sector attracted some BD787 million (over $2 billion) in investments between 2009 and 2019, with the country’s ICT sector now accounting for nearly three percent of national GDP.

Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, said: “We are continually striving to ensure that the Kingdom of Bahrain maintains its position among global leaders in this crucial sector.

“This includes ensuring availability and deployment of commercial 5G services and enhancing readiness for next generation ICT services such as the Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine communications.

Bahrain one of the world’s first countries to achieve nationwide coverage

“We are confident that our potential to generate, use, and ultimately export innovation will be pivotal for the growth and diversification of our economy towards high value-added sectors such as content development and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“Rapid access to information is essential to innovation, particularly for next-generation services. In this way, 5G is a crucial step in Bahrain’s ongoing transition from net consumer to net producer of technological innovation.”

Researchers estimate that there will be more than 1 billion 5G connections by 2023, with Bahrain one of the world’s first countries to achieve nationwide coverage.

The kingdom has previously introduced several laws for tech-driven businesses, including MENA’s first personal data protection law in line with GDPR and a data jurisdiction law allowing information stored in Bahrain to fall under its home country’s legal jurisdiction.