Bahrain first in the region to break a telecoms fixed line monopoly

Lightspeed Communications launches innovative IT solutions for first time in Bahrain
Lightspeed Communications (LSC) has marked its Bahrain debut with the launch of its flagship 'iVault' solution.



The datacentre - driven by technology provided by Gulf Business Machines (GBM) - is the first to enable financial institutions and others to securely host their mission-critical systems.

Following global regulatory trends such as the Sarbanese-Oxley Act and the Basel II Accord, the Bahrain Monetary Agency has issued guidelines for financial institutions in the country to meet tight standards for business continuity. To address this need, Lightspeed Communications have created an outsourcing model to assist organizations to meet these tight standards.

According to Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al-Khalifa, Managing Director of LSC, the launch of iVault, represents a significant step forward in allowing organizations to economically meet their business continuity needs.

'We began this project to set up a premium datacentre last year, and we wanted to appoint a technology solutions provider who could meet our own stringent requirements - Gulf Business Machines/IBM was a natural choice', said Shaikh Abdulla.

Initially iVault is offering a flexible, future-proof datacentre to organizations both large and small. Offering everything from instant-access single racks to custom-built dedicated business suites, iVault combines complete security and control with optimum business performance and value. Later in the year, options will extend to services such as portal hosting and content delivery and remote management services as well as cross-border disaster recovery facility services.

Lightspeed Communications is also planning to offer its services regionally, meaning that organisations in other GCC countries will be able to avail of these services to secure their data.

With the launch of iVault, Lightspeed Communications stands to become the first telecommunications operator with the most advanced business continuity planning in Bahrain. Later this year, Lightspeed Communications will launch online or 'live' connections, through which organisations requiring the highest level of resilience can continue their business uninterrupted.

'We are proud to be associated with LSC in this project, which is another demonstration of Bahrain's leading position in IT in the region.' said Abdulla Ishaq, General Manager of Bahrain Business Machines (BBM), GBM operation in Bahrain.

Lightspeed Communications joins FutureIT
Lightspeed Communications (LSC) today announced that it will be participating as a Gold Sponsor in the Global ICT Summit 2005 (FutureIT 2005) - the only international dedicated tradeshow focused on meeting the specialized ICT needs of a fast growing digital economy.



Initially LSC's flagship product - iVault - offers a flexible, future-proof datacentre outsourcing solution to meet all requirements, from small to medium enterprises to multi-national corporations - from instant access single racks to custom-built dedicated business suites, combining complete security and control with optimum business performance.

Subsequently, options will extend to services such as portal hosting, content delivery, remote management services and cross-border disaster recovery facility services. Lightspeed Communications is also planning to offer its services regionally, meaning that organisations in other GCC countries will be able to take advantage of these services to secure their data.

With the launch of iVault, Lightspeed Communications is fast on track to becoming the first fixed-line telecommunications operator providing the most advanced business continuity planning in Bahrain. Furthermore, LSC is well on its way to unveiling a hat trick of telco services - a triple play offer of IP voice, video telephony and high-speed Internet services that will become a reality later this year.
According to Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al-Khalifa, Managing Director of LSC, the decision to participate in FutureIT 2005, represents an ideal opportunity to showcase these technologies to key decision-makers in the ICT field in the region.

"We are proud to wlecome LSC to FutureIT 2005, which is another demonstration of our leading position in IT conferences in the region,' said Waleed Kanoo, CEO of Creative Knowledge, the event organiser.

Mr. Ahmed Al Hujairy, the Chairman of the Bahrain Internet Society said, 'We are pleased to have Lightspeed Communications as a key sponsor of FutureIT 2005 and we are confident that FutureIT will provide the necessary opportunities for next-generation companies such as Lightspeed Communications for growth and success.'

I really don't see any sorts of relation between SOX (Sarbanese-Oxley ) and this new company in any chance.

What would an IT co. do helping companies organise the relation beween companies management, Auditors and Bord of directors???!?!?

Thats strange.. What would other big names do then? SAP, Oracle, in the banking sector I-flex ?!?

Anyway, they have something to say and let's lesson to what they have.

by the way, The press said that there will be a new fixed telcom. co that will operate in AMwaj Islands

Well from what I understood from what you said above, they probably meant that the new solutions that they'll be providing will help enhance management techniques and simplify implementing their concepts.

So, with this Amwaj thing, we should have 3 companies then up and running. If so, that's amazin.

Businesses and individuals in Bahrain are being promised high-speed Internet access with cutting-edge voice and video communications, with the launch of the Triple Play solution by Lightspeed Communications (LSC) later this year.

LSC has been awarded its National and International Services Licences (enabling fixed line voice services) and its Value-Added Services Licence, which will deliver operation of advanced video communications, video-mail, video content distribution and video-on-demand services.

"Initially we were only concentrating on ISP (Internet Service Provider) operations and it was only late last year that we decided to pursue a much more aggressive strategy in offering Triple Play services," said LSC managing director Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa.

LSC's system deploys enhanced video services for use in the office or home, says the company.

Prices will be announced prior to the launch of the Triple Play solution later this year.

LSC has been in discussions with Batelco since last year and says it foresees forging an agreement with its wholesale division within the coming weeks.

Lightspeed victory as the first alternative fixed line telco operator in Bahrain
Lightspeed Communications (LSC) has now officially been awarded its National and International Services Licenses (enabling fixed line voice services) and its Value-Added Services License, which will deliver operation of cutting-edge Video communications, Video-mail, Video Content Distribution, and Video-on-Demand services.


Lightspeed has begun its plans to lead the marketplace by staying current with customer needs and trends, building customer loyalty with one-stop shopping and a single bill system whilst growing mind share through establishing itself in a market position as a superior and sole provider of Triple Play services (voice, video and high-speed Internet).

Shaikh Abdulla Khalid Al Khalifa, managing director said, 'Initially we were only concentrating on ISP operations and it was only until late last year that we decided to pursue a much more aggressive strategy in offering 'Triple Play' services, hence in pursuing relevant licenses after watching the trends of IP technology, in view of the liberalization process in the Kingdom.

Due to the new era of competition based on transparency and fairness through the Telecoms Law and the TRA, we chose to move forward in applying for all the licenses required for offering Triple Play services, which has been a successful trend occurring recently in Europe, most notable being Fastweb in Italy and France Telecom. Lightspeed effectively sought to introduce voice services to the residential and business communities in this region. Triple Play is no longer the future - it is today's reality,' he said.

Offering Triple Play services in Bahrain across a common core will provide a number of benefits. Triple Play services ultimately afford the customer additional choices in content and its availability. Telco companies that offer Triple Play services have a competitive advantage over providers who offer such services in an isolated manner.

Triple Play packages are bundled to suit the individual needs of the customer so that they can select the type of services, which appeals to them the most. Shaikh Abdulla commented, 'It provides ease of mind for the consumer so that they don't have to deal with an array of bills, implementations or installations. Upon subscription, it will enable the consumer to have access to high-speed Internet services, voice line services as well as enhanced video communication services - all at one touch.'

Lightspeed's system deploys enhanced video services whereby the subscriber can access bill information and still freely communicate with whomever and wherever - in the office or at home. The solutions are advanced to ensure the subscriber has the ability to check any personal information on-line or through the video phone itself.

'Our emphasis is placed on customer choice and flexibility - consumers have the option of calling contacts via fixed line operations, pc's or even while watching television - it doesn't make any difference because our customers will always be in touch,' said Shaikh Abdulla.

The awarding of the International Services License is instrumental in providing a multitude of services connected to voice services, including Video Mail, Video-on-Demand, Video Content and Distribution. 'Our customers could ultimately engage in Voice and Video communications with business colleagues, friends and family within Bahrain and across the globe,' said the managing director.

Residential and business customers will be also be offered high-speed Internet access of 256kbits/s to 2MBits/s. Prices will be announced prior to the launch of the Triple Play solution later this year.

'Business clients will be offered substantial savings whereby LSC will be extending their current IP network to enable them to be on the IP backbone within Bahrain or outside the Kingdom so that instead of business phone calls being terminated on the voice circuit network, their voice calls and data will remain in the IP level and be communicated from one branch to another. It effectively lowers the cost of the service,' commented Shaikh Abdulla.

Lightspeed has been in discussions with Batelco since last year (after awarding of its ISP License) and foresees mutually forging an agreement with its wholesale division within the coming weeks ahead. Pending the negotiations and subsequent agreement, LSC endeavor to commence establishment of commercial operations of its services, strategically positioning itself as the leading alternative fixed line telecommunications operator of Bahrain.

Lightspeed is looking into acquiring alternative routes for International Connectivity. Shaikh Abdulla Al-Khalifa, managing director of Lightspeed said, 'It's crucial that we choose different routes for connecting to the public Internet Backbone. We look forward in signing agreements with a number of entities where it would meet such requirements. This would solve the problem of disconnections due to some faulty or broken network links from specific suppliers.'

Another first in Bahrain for the up-and-coming Telco Company is proposing 'company to client' contracts guaranteeing a certain level of quality (Service Level Agreement's to fulfill high connection speeds). 'For the first time, SLA's would be introduced to ensure a guaranteed level quality of service to the customer. Mobility, speed and convenience will be the new way forward for Lightspeed customers,' commented Shaikh Abdulla.

Also, shortly to be hailed from Lightspeed is a service that allows customers to have access to Video-on-Demand. Customers will have the option of viewing interactive content and services like live e-voting or polls, push-video content all from the Lightspeed portal. Video Content Distribution will also enable companies to advertise their products and services to people through the Lightspeed Content Portal.

Waleed Kanoo, CEO of Creative Knowledge, the organizer of the event said, 'Lightspeed are not offering the same concepts and services as other participants and have something truly unique that could really cater to the needs of customers.

Targeting the niche markets in their offerings of iVault - the datacentre solution, and Triple Play, will probably put Lightspeed on the map of telecommunications in Bahrain. Their presence here at FutureIT 2005 is very important to us because it brings them close to potential customers to discuss their services as well as providing us with the confidence of educating the public about another dimension of telecommunications that will soon be available,' he commented.

Speaking after the Telecoms Convergence conference, Shaikh Abdulla said, 'We are confident in the demand of another alternative Telco provider in Bahrain to serve the demands of not only the residential community, but also the business sector.

Many companies from various industries seek to establish communications with Telco industries to launch innovative services such as providing content over our network, such as dealing with businesses in issues surrounding VPN Networks.'

Lightspeed is offering to widen the IP coverage, establish a fixed price, allow for certain notifications, making it convenient and suitable for government Ministries, banks, financial institutions, small companies and multinationals. It will be a similar set-up as the residential services, however added lines can reach up to four or five times as many for businesses.

'All of these issues have been highlighted and clarified at this event whereby it provides Lightspeed to act in a position to meet potential customers as soon as possible, taking into consideration their needs, offering flexibility and overall, working to enhance the way of telecommunications as we know it,' Shaikh Abdulla said.

To cater for residential needs, Lightspeed's residential packages will be offered at competitive prices and the package will include high-speed internet access (512K to 2MB), added line (Lightspeed line), voice/video enabled and application through phone, PC or TV. There will be a number of different bundles pertaining to flexibility and the need for every type of customer. Lightspeed will ensure to provide the greatest flexibility in the choice of services customers would demand for.

Customers will also be given a software application to be installed in their Laptop, whereby they could communicate with their colleagues, friends and family through voice and video, utilizing the same national number, if they are abroad or on a business trip.

The Lightspeed managing director added, 'Another benefit from our voice-line services is at present, from the moment you pick up the phone, the customer is billed in increments of 1 unit, which is 3 minutes long. What Lightspeed can do is bill the customer on a per-second basis where it works out cheaper. It is too early to decide what the charges will be but I am confident that they will be competitive.'

Rajeev Rajasekhar, a visitor to the exhibition summed it all up by saying, 'As a potential customer, I believe it's a very good thing for Bahrain because it was a monopoly before and now that Lightspeed has entered the market, offering bundled packages to suit business and residential needs, I believe it will be very successful. People today are requiring more choice and flexibility. Personally, I am really happy to be given the choice.'

AN up-and-coming telecoms company in Bahrain says it may have a solution for Internet users who are fed up with getting disconnected from the web.

Lightspeed Communications is now looking at acquiring alternative routes for international connectivity and says it plans to guarantee a certain level of service to its clients.

"It is crucial that we choose different routes for connecting to the public Internet backbone," said managing director Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa.

"We look forward to signing agreements with a number of entities where it would meet such requirements.

"This would solve the problem of disconnection due to some faulty or broken network links from specific suppliers."

The company is proposing company-to-client contracts, which guarantee a certain level of quality in its Internet service.

"For the first time, service level agreements would be introduced to ensure a guaranteed level of service to the customer," said Shaikh Abdulla.

"Mobility, speed and convenience will be the new way forward for Lightspeed customers."

The company is also planning to unveil a service that gives customers access to video-on-demand.

Customers will have the option of viewing interactive content and services, such as live e-voting and push-video content, all from the Lightspeed portal.

Video content distribution will also enable companies to advertise their products and services to people through the Lightspeed content portal.