Telecommunication authorities in Bahrain should conduct a review of the industry to create more competition in the sector, said a top official of Kingdom's leading telecom services operator Batelco.

Bahrain remained a small market and that to move forward and encourage investment in the latest technologies for customers, it was important authorities re-examined the market which they had not done since 2008, remarked Batelco Bahrain chief executive Rashid Abdulla following the announcement of the company's third quarter results.

He said that Batelco had spoken to the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority about carrying out a market survey as the kingdom looked to the fourth generation of technology.

Group chief executive Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa said the company continued to look at opportunities in international markets where taking a stake in existing businesses was important.

He emphasised that the company was still interested in the Indian market but not in greenfield projects but in partnerships where their expertise could benefit a market that had great growth potential.

"Across the group, our focus has been on enhancing competitiveness in our home market, Bahrain, and at our subsidiary companies," he said.

"This has meant both ensuring we remained as innovative as possible in our approach to serving our customers as well as in the manner in which we manage our operations," he said.

Batelco announced a profit of $114 million for the first nine months of the year in a period which was marked by strong competitive conditions in Bahrain and progress in overseas Mena markets.

That compared with a profit of $151 million for the corresponding period in 2011.-TradeArabia News Service