Batelco denies claims over Asia call charges

Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) said on Tuesday its pricing of international calls is consistent with the country’s regulations on competition. The company's comments came a day after Bahrain's telecoms regulator issued notices to Batelco and Saudi Telecom Company unit Viva, accusing them of anti-competitive pricing on international calls to Asia. Rashid Abdulla, Batelco Bahrain CEO said in a statement posted on the company website: “Batelco has been informed of this decision and is in process of making a detailed submission to the telecommunications regulatory authority outlining reasons why we believe we acted fairly and consistent with the regulatory and competitive laws of the kingdom. “We look forward to the opportunity to outline our case to the TRA and we are confident we will receive a fair hearing,” he added.According to Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), the two operators have until October 13 to respond, after which the TRA will decide whether to impose any penalties. "The notices allege the operators' pricing constituted an abuse of dominance in the international mobile telecommunications market," it said in a statement on Monday. The notice relates to tariffs to several Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh. Non-Bahrainis make up more than a third of Bahrain's estimated 1.2 million people, with a significant minority coming from Asia. From / Arabian Business News