Bahrain witnessed the launch of its newest telecoms company, set up to bring the next generation of voice, video telephony and mail services together with high-speed Internet services to the kingdom.

Lightspeed Communications LSC holds an Internet service provider (ISP) licence from Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), and is set to boost this with the award of three new licences to offer a hat trick of telecom services in Bahrain.
Lightspeed managing director, Sheikh Abdulla Al Khalifa, said: “We are delighted to take our place alongside the established giants in the sector to offer flexibility and choice to customers at home and at work.”
The new company’s triple play offer of voice, video and high-speed Internet services will become a reality later this year and follows the already successful introduction of its pioneering secure “iVault” datacenter services for the government and finance sectors developed in partnership with Gulf Business Machines.
Sheikh Abdulla sees the company as highly complementary to existing services in Bahrain, and praises the infrastructure and technology already available. 
“In providing our services we will be accessing the well-established high-quality networks already in place in Bahrain.  The kingdom is lucky to have one of the most advanced infrastructures in the region, which is perfect for us as a new company,” he said.
“Our philosophy in launching Lightspeed is to build on the huge successes that Bahrain has already achieved, making the most of existing quality infrastructure, and using the opportunities in the newly liberalised sector to build the extra services and speed that customers are looking for.”
Lightspeed will become the first in the region to break a telecoms fixed line monopoly when it launches its competitive voice services later this year. 
“We believe the Bahrain government was visionary in setting up the TRA and in drafting its Telecommunications Law and that this enterprising spirit will reap rewards for the residential and business markets in the kingdom alike,” said Sheikh Abdulla. 
“We are the first of a new breed of telecoms companies that will offer a vast array of choice and services to the population, which will have a knock-on effect on competitiveness and for attracting inward investment.”
Bahrain is already a world-class financial centre, and when the kingdom’s progressive economic reforms, which were announced recently, come into effect, Sheikh Abdulla expects to see the kingdom’s status as a regional business and telco hub grow even further. 
“Companies such as Lightspeed are part of the necessary infrastructure to make this investment happen,” he said.