Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Aptilo Networks have entered into a partnership to deliver business-to-business (B2B) or (B2B2C) Wi-Fi services in Bahrain. Batelco has selected the Aptilo Service Management Platform™ (SMP) with the Aptilo SMP Venue Wi-Fi Manager™ to deploy a nationwide managed Wi-Fi service.

Batelco offers managed venue Wi-Fi services to enterprise customers, with the service deployed either on top of the customer’s existing Wi-Fi equipment or as a fully managed service with the Wi-Fi infrastructure included.

Batelco General Manager Enterprise Abderrahmane Mounir said, “We were looking for a vendor agnostic solution that could match our high ambitions in scaling our Wi-Fi business both in terms of volume and functionality, and at the same time have a platform that will allow Batelco and its enterprise customers to engage with the wifi users.”

“Aptilo’s proven track-record in innovation and stability makes them the right choice for us to support the growing demands of our enterprise customers,” he added.

Furthermore, Batelco will deploy an additional Wi-Fi connection (SSID) exclusively for Batelco subscribers at most public locations. When Batelco mobile subscribers switch on their Wi-Fi, they will instantaneously connect to the secure Wi-Fi network at these locations. It is the SIM-authentication functionality of the Aptilo SMP that makes the Wi-Fi network as secure and seamless as any mobile network.

“Operator managed Wi-Fi is crucial not only as a profitable business but also to get indoor footprint for subscribers. This will become increasingly important in the 5G era,” said Anders Emilsson, VP Sales Middle East & Africa, Aptilo Networks.

“We are proud that Bahrain’s leading operator has selected us. Their insights in the market and the dynamics of Wi-Fi will make them very successful,” he added.