The Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), offers mobile, fixed and Internet telecommunications in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and India.

Mobile services earned 51% of Batelco’s total revenues, in 2008, amounting to BHD319 million (USD850 million). Internet services represented 12.6% and fixed line services, 12.17% of total revenues.

The company’s local operations earned 70% of its total revenues. Batelco’s 2008 profits amounted to BHD108 million (USD288 million), 86.4% of which was earned from Bahrain operations. It increased paid up capital, in February 2008, by 20% to BHD144 million (USD383 million), when it issued bonus shares.

Batelco was launched as a fixed line operator and listed on Bahrain Stock Exchange, in 1981. It expanded into mobile telecommunications, in 1994, when it signed a BHD6 million (USD16 million) contract to launch a GSM in Bahrain. Batelco held the monopoly in the mobile market at home until December 2003, when Kuwait-based MTC VodafoneMTC Vodafone won Bahrain's second GSM license; followed by Saudi TelecomSaudi Telecom, which won the third such license, in January 2009. Batelco's fixed-line monopoly was also broken, when Bahrain-based Lightspeed CommunicationsLightspeed Communications and Kalaam TelecomKalaam Telecom were each granted fixed-line licenses, in 2005.

In Bahrain, Batelco’s 2008 mobile subscribers increased by 15% to 767,000, its fixed line subscribers grew by 1% to 205,000 and its Internet subscribers grew by 14%, to 82,000. Total group mobile subscribers amounted 4.3 million, which is a 26.5 % increase from the previous year. The company’s revenues grew by 9% in 2008.

Batelco began growing its businesses, in 2001, through a series of acquisitions in mobile, fixed and Internet services. Regionally, it expanded its mobile telecom operations by acquiring 96% of the Umniah Mobile CompanyUmniah Mobile Company, the third licensed GSM operator in Jordan, in June 2006, for BHD156.46 million (USD415.7 million), with 700,000 subscribers, as of the date of acquisition. Next, Batelco acquired 20% of Yemen's mobile operator, SabafonSabafon, in March 2007, for BHD59.57 million (USD 158 million), which added 1.2 million subscribers to Batelco’s group subscriber base. Batelco purchased an extra 7% shares in the company, in May 2008, for BHD21.69 million (USD57.54 million). A consortium of companies including Batelco acquired 49% of STel, an India-based mobile operator, for BHD85 million (USD226 million), in January 2009.

The expansion of its regional fixed-line operations took place when it won, as part of a consortium, Saudi Arabia's second fixed-line license, Etihad Atheeb TelecommunicationEtihad Atheeb Telecommunication, in April 2007, thus ending the monopoly previously held by Saudi TelecomSaudi Telecom.

Batelco expanded its Internet services in 2001, when National Equipment and Technical Services (Nets), First Telecommunications Group (FTG) and Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Jordan) merged to form an Internet service provider called Batelco JordanBatelco Jordan. As of 2008, Batelco JordanBatelco Jordan provides Internet services, as one of UmniahUmniah Mobile’s business units, and provides Internet services through its Bahrain-based subsidiary, Arabian Network Information ServicesArabian Network Information Services. Batelco expanded its Internet services operations regionally into Kuwait through Qualitynet, and Egypt through Batelco Egypt Communications.