Bahrain's leading telecom services operator Batelco has signed a partnership deal with India's Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), the third largest mobile services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

This partnership with India’s leading operator follows Batelco’s announcement of its major plans to expand its global presence and solidify its global data offerings.

As per the deal, both organisations can access each other’s networks thus enabling them to extend their reach into newer markets.

This will further reinforce Batelco’s positioning, especially in the Pan-Asian region, and will allow customers and carriers more access and reliability. Similarly, Airtel will be able to utilise the Bahrain telco giant’s presence across the Middle East and other regions to reach its customers in more locations, stated the company.

In an increasingly digital world with diversified business requirements, global organisations now place larger emphasis on resilient and reliable global data connectivity. In recognition of this trend, the Batelco-Airtel agreement will further support organisations with their multi-faceted world-wide connectivity requirements, it stated.

Batelco said forming strategic partnerships with organisations that share a similar vision was key to drive its growth plans forward and provide exceptional value to its customers.

“We are well in line with our expansion plans, and are glad to have signed this agreement with Airtel to drive us forward,” said Batelco chief global business officer Adel Al Daylami after signing the deal with Airtel director and chief exeutive (Global Voice & Data Business) Ajay Chitkara in the presence of officials from both organisations.

"It’s partnerships like these which empower Batelco to meet global demands and provide services at outstanding value. Furthermore, it comes at a time when we are focussing on our active role in strengthening the Bahraini market," he stated.

"These partnerships, especially with well-established operators like Airtel, help Batelco in being a driving force to capture investment opportunities for the Kingdom of Bahrain," he added.

In his comments, Chitkara said the customers were at the very core of everything Airtel does and delivering a compelling experience is Airtel’s foremost priority.

“We are happy to partner with Batelco, a brand that shares this vision and will help us further expand our reach in the Middle East and the nearby regions. I am certain that we have forged a winning partnership that will enable both companies to reach greater heights in the years to come,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service