Bahrain
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Bahrain
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
When it comes to download speeds, No one is faster than Batelco in the Kingdom of Bahrain
Batelco has clinched the overall Download Speed Experience award, with users experiencing speeds that are over 50% faster than those using Zain, who placed last. Additionally, in terms of 5G Download Speed, Batelco shares the leading position with stc, with 5G users enjoying average speeds of 280Mbps on both networks.
Batelco users enjoy the best multiplayer mobile gaming experience in Bahrain
Batelco is the outright winner of the overall Games and 5G Games Experience awards, ahead of second-placed stc. Batelco and stc achieved a Good (75-85) rating on both measures, meaning the gameplay experience of users was generally controllable, and they received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Stc 5G users spend the greatest proportion of time connected to an active 5G signal
Stc wins the 5G Availability award, with our 5G users on its network connecting to 5G on average for 36.2% of the time. Having fast 5G download speeds is only useful when users have a 5G connection. 5G Availability compares the amount of time our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection — the higher the percentage, the more time users on a network spend connected to 5G.
Batelco shines in 5G Coverage Experience
Batelco wins the 5G Coverage Experience award, scoring 7.1 on a 10-point scale, giving it a lead of 0.4-0.9 points over stc and Zain. 5G Coverage Experience recognizes operators for the geographical 5G coverage observed by our users in populated areas.
The most consistent experience is with Zain
Zain is the winner of the Consistent Quality award in Bahrain, scoring 79.7% and outperforming last-placed stc by around 9 percentage point margin. Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices.
Stc is top for overall Video Experience, but with 5G, Batelco is the leader
Our users observe the best overall quality of experience while streaming on-demand videos over cellular connections with stc. However, Batelco beats stc when it comes to 5G Video Experience. The overall Video Experience across all three Bahraini networks rates as Good (58-68), while the 5G Video Experience rates as Very Good (68-78).
Stc is the first operator in Bahrain to win the new Reliability Experience award
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of our users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on operators’ networks. Stc wins Reliability Experience outright with a score just one point short of 900 points mark on a scale of 100-1000 and a lead of around 32 points over second-placed Batelco and Zain.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In Opensignal’s latest assessment of Bahrain’s mobile network experience landscape Batelco places at the top, securing the highest number of awards, including seven uncontested victories. Batelco wins five out of six 5G categories, either outright or jointly. It is the outright winner of the 5G Video Experience, 5G Games Experience, 5G Upload Speed and 5G Coverage Experience awards. Batelco and stc share the 5G Download Speed award, while stc takes the 5G Availability award. Stc achieves two further wins, including Reliability Experience., Zain wins three awards outright: Consistent Quality, Coverage Experience and Upload Speed Experience.
In 2024, Bahrain's telecom operators have made significant strides. Batelco, for example, partnered with Nokia to provide 5G private wireless networks, focusing on mission-critical industries such as oil and gas, manufacturing, and ports. These industries require low-latency and highly reliable communications. Meanwhile, Zain announced it has trialed demand-driven power-efficient cell capacity to reduce its radio site energy consumption.
In 2022, Zain took the lead in phasing out 3G in the kingdom, the operator has now commenced repurposing the 900MHz band from 2G to 4G, aiming to improve capacity and coverage, particularly indoors. While all three operators in Bahrain hold spectrum in the 900MHz band, Batelco holds the largest share and decommissioned its 2G services on this band in 2021.
On the other hand, stc announced in January 2024 that it is deploying 5G New Calling technology, which it says will offer improved voice quality and enable interactive HD video chats along with features such as real-time translation and screen sharing, enhancing overall user communication.
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) plans to auction spectrum in the 700MHz, 1400MHz, 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, and 3.8GHz bands to support the growth of wireless technology. Additionally, the C-Band spectrum will be allocated for private 5G networks to drive digital transformation in key sectors such as ports and manufacturing. Through these continuous efforts and investments by operators and the regulator, Bahrain has established itself as a regional leader across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), particularly in overall network performance and 5G download speeds.
In this report, we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Bahrain — Batelco, Zain and stc — over a period of 90 days starting on June 01, 2024, and ending on August 29, 2024, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Stc wins the Video Experience award outright with a score of 67.1 points on a 100-point scale, just one point over Batelco and Zain, which place second with their identical scores of 65.7 points.
All three operators place in the Good (58-68) category. A Good (58-68) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users' real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Batelco users enjoy the best overall quality of experience while playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections. Batelco wins the Games Experience award outright with a score of 77.2 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of about two points over stc. Zain’s score is significantly lower — 71.6 points.
As a result, Batelco and stc place in the Good (75-85) category, while Zain places one category lower in Fair (65-75).
A Good (75-85) rating means that most users deem the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users do not experience a delay between their actions and the game. As we move down the ratings, the responsiveness and controllability worsen, with more users noticing a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Batelco wins Opensignal’s Download Speed Experience award with a score of 71.1Mbps — 8% faster than stc and 52% faster than Zain.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Zain wins the Upload Speed Experience award with speeds averaging 13.8Mbps, which are 23% faster than those seen with Batelco. Stc comes third with a score of 9.3Mbps.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
5G Experience
National Analysis
We saw a tight competition in our analysis of the 5G Video Experience in Bahrain. Batelco wins the 5G Video Experience award outright with a score of 74.2 points on a 100-point scale, while stc is in second place with 72.8 points. Zain comes third with a score of 70.3 points.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category for 5G Video Experience, one category higher than their overall Video Experience ratings. A Very Good (68-78) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users' real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
Batelco wins the 5G Games Experience award outright with a score of 84.5 points on a 100-point scale, leading by four points over stc. Zain is significantly behind with 65.5 points.
With these scores, Batelco and stc place in the Good (75-85) category, while Zain places one category lower, in Fair (65-75) for 5G Games Experience.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world. Calculating 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Batelco and stc are joint winners of the 5G Download Speed award. This is because our Batelco and stc users observe statistically tied average 5G download speeds of 276.5-283.7Mbps, around 52% faster than those seen by those on Zain, given its score of 184.3Mbps.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Batelco is the winner of the 5G Upload Speed award with upload speeds averaging 23Mbps — around 17% faster than the statistically tied speeds seen by our Zain and stc users.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Coverage
National Analysis
Zain wins the Coverage Experience award outright with a score of nine on a 10-point scale. Coverage Experience measures the extent of overall coverage in the places our users live, work, and travel.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
National Analysis
Opensignal’s 5G Coverage Experience metric measures the 5G geographic coverage in populated areas. The 5G Coverage Experience award goes to Batelco, which wins outright with a score of 7.1 points on a 10-point scale, ahead of stc and Zain.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
5G Coverage Experience shows the proportion of places Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
National Analysis
Batelco wins the Availability award outright, as our users on Batelco are able to spend more than 99% of their time connected to a cellular service. Zain and stc share second place with their statistically tied scores of 97.7-97.9%.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
National Analysis
Having very fast average 5G download speeds is only useful when users have a 5G connection. Opensignal's 5G Availability compares the amount of time our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection — the higher the percentage, the more time users on a network spend connected to 5G. Stc wins the 5G Availability award with our 5G users on its network connecting to 5G on average for 36.2% of their time. Batelco places in second with 28.7%, while Zain scores slightly below 20%.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Consistency
National Analysis
Our users in Bahrain see the most consistent quality of services on Zain’s network. The operator secures the Consistent Quality award, scoring 79.7% and a lead of seven percentage points over Batelco.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
National Analysis
Stc wins the Reliability Experience award outright with a score of 899 points on a 100-1000 point scale and a lead of around 32 points over Batelco and Zain.
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of our users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on operators’ networks. It consists of the following components: % time connected — The proportion of time Opensignal users can successfully connect to a mobile network Data connectivity — the proportion of time when the network is available and the device can connect to the internet. Task completion — whether tasks initiated by the user’s device are completed Sufficiency — The probability that (basic) tasks will be executed sufficiently well for the user
Definitions
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of Opensignal users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on communication service providers’ (CSP) networks. It analyzes how much Opensignal users’ experience is affected by the radio access and core network, along with issues that prevent them from connecting to the internet even if they have a connection to their CSP’s network. It also factors in users’ ability to successfully use lower performance applications including SD video, over-the-top voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience