** Batelco and Capital Municipal Council Sign MoU **

Batelco, the Kingdom’s leading communications solutions provider has signed an agreement with the Capital Municipal Council with a vision to deploy the latest communications technologies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, starting with the rollout of WiFi hotspots in key locations.

Batelco Bahrain CEO Muna Al Hashemi and Capital Municipal Council Chairman Eng. Mohammed Ali Al Khozaae signed the MoU in the presence of officials from both major organisations at Batelco’s Hamala Headquarters, recently. The partnership between Batelco as a major private sector organisation, with the government sector’s Capital Municipal Council, has been praised as a historic event of major significance.

Under the agreement, Batelco will install WiFi hotspots in a number of locations throughout the Capital Governorate to serve the public including Al Fateh Corniche, National Museum, National Theatre, Bab Al Bahrain, Manama Souq and Adliya Block 338 with additional locations to be planned for in the future. The WiFi service will be available to the public free of chargefor a limited duration each day in the most popular locations providing a great benefit to Bahrain’s population and visitors.

Speaking following the signing, Mrs. Al Hashemi said that Batelco as a major organisation in the private sector was delighted to enter into such an important partnership with a government sector entity.

“Batelco is delighted to sign the key agreement which is in line with the aims of the Capital Municipal Council to support their efforts in delivering WiFi services to residents and visitors to its Governorate areas. The association with the Capital Municipal Council supports Batelco’s goals to expand on its alliances with other key organisations including those in the government sector. Over the years, we have joined hands with many leading bodies to strengthen our efforts in delivering the best communication solutions for residents and visitors toBahrain,” said Mrs. Al Hashemi.

“As part of Batelco’s tremendousefforts, the Company plays a crucial role in enabling e-government initiatives including the provision of infrastructure, Broadband and gateway-services plus more. Batelco annually supports events such as the eGovernment Forum to reaffirm its commitment to the Kingdom’s e-Government project and to the Kingdom’s 2030 vision.

“Batelco is proud of its efforts to support initiatives that benefit the Kingdom and the community. We have a well-established Corporate Social Responsibility programme which we use as a channel to sponsor activities in the health, education, sports and social/cultural sectors. Our commitment to provide free WiFi in a number of areas widely used by the public is in line with our Corporate Social Responsibility efforts to positively impact residents of all nationalities,” Mrs. Al Hashemi added.

Mr. Al Khozaae said that the partnership with Batelco embodies the concept of community partnership with companies that provide services to subscribers.

“This service will undoubtedly contribute to the upgrading of the capital to be on par with the ranks of smart and sophisticated international capitals that provide first class services to citizens, residents and tourists. The Kingdom of Bahrain has been and remains a pioneer and leader in all service areas, the project will complement a series of services provided for everyone,” he said.

“We extend our appreciation to Batelco for their considerable efforts in cooperating with us to provide this invaluable service and we look forward to building on our mutual relationship to deliver needed services for the Kingdom of Bahrain,” Mr. Al Khozaae added.