Batelco Chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa welcomed the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Mr. Rasheed Muhammad Al Maraj, to Batelco’s Hamala Data Center.

The visit took place in the presence of a number of executives from both organizations, where the Batelco team introduced the Governor to the Data Center’s facilities, which is the largest of its kind in Bahrain. The Hamala Data Center received a Tier III certificate from the Uptime Institute, a global authority that specializes in evaluating global data centers through a series of performance-based assessments designed to measure progress and efficiency of all data centers across the world.

Commenting on the visit, the Governor praised the excellent quality of the Data Center, pointing out that the development of such facilities is in line with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s aspirations for the banking and financial technology sectors, saying: “We are proud to have a Data Center of this caliber in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The establishment of a data hub that meets the highest international standards will contribute positively towards boosting the Kingdom’s digital economy.”

He added, “In recent years, organisations in general and specifically the banking and finance sector have expressed a need for reliable local data hubs that meet world-class standards to enhance their operations. This came as a result of the increased dependency on data and the need to effectively store and manage its components. The Batelco Data Center will ensure that institutions within the Banking sector can depend on seamless business continuity, supported by the latest technologies, offered by Batelco.”

On this occasion, Shaikh Abdulla commended the Governor’s visit to the Data Center, and thanked him for his continuous support to the banking sector and the role it plays in enhancing the Kingdom of Bahrain’s economy, saying: “We were honoured by the presence of the CBB Governor, Mr. Al Maraj, at Batelco’s Data Center, which has been recently established as part of the company’s efforts to provide world-class facilities that support the accelerated development of the Kingdom’s digital economy.”

“The Batelco Data Center will play a significant role in providing digital services to both the public and private sectors and enable organisations to stay ahead of the latest digital developments, especially within the data management and security fields. Batelco’s efforts will continue to support the Kingdom’s position as the region’s leading hub in the ICT and data economy, contribute to the modernization and development of the Kingdom’s technical structure as well as support the banking sector in line with the Kingdom’s economic vision for 2030.”

The Data Center, located in Hamala, is Batelco’s second Data Center, with a Tier III certificate from the Uptime Institute for data center construction and design. It covers a land area of 12,236 square meters and is equipped with a 2.7 megawatt capacity of total energy that services a total of 250 working cabins, making it the largest data center of its kind in the Kingdom.
The new Data Center is in line with Batelco’s plans, following the opening of its first Tier III Uptime Institute-certified Data Center at the beginning of 2019; a remarkable achievement that marked it as the first data center to obtain all the necessary design and construction certificates in Bahrain.