Facts & Figures:

  • The country has the total land area of 760 Km2 (293 sq. miles) with a 2019 population estimated at 1,630,012, which includes 568,399 Bahraini and almost the other half are expatriates.
  • Bahrain has a high Human Development Index (ranked 48th in the world) and was recognised by the World Bank as a high-income economy.
  • The total mobile subscribers were 2,994,865 subscribers with a minimum of 1,440,782 subscribers in 2008.
  • There are three mobile network operators: Zain, stc and Batelco, each operator has its own guidelines and regulations.

Flows & Rules:

  • In order to host a VAS service in Bahrain, it requires specific legal documentation. Through partnership with a local specialist, Empello can arrange for assistance, and allow you to focus on your launch.
  • All VAS landing pages are hosted by the Merchants/ aggregators. Merchants need to follow the guidelines in order to host their VAS services.
  • Major aggregators operating in Bahrain are: TPAY, Actel and TIMWE.
  • The subscription flow is mainly an OTP flow on stc and Batelco and click flow on Zain, as at May 2019.
Note
The information above is correct at the time of publication, but seek specific advice prior to launching or running a service.