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A 150 fils directory enquiry charge has this week beeing introduced for land lines calls for the first time in Bahrain ... and a part of it will be given to charity.
As a result of the ongoing deregulation of the Bahraini market Batelco's Directory Enquiries (numbers 181 and 188) via both mobile phones and fixed lines has become a chargeable value-added service, the company says. This is consistent with other telecommunications service providers operating in competitive markets.
Any customer who is registered with Batelco as having special needs or low income will be given 10 free DQ calls in each billing cycle. The registration for this is done by ID card validation or a letter issued by the Ministry of Social Development.
Batelco Board Secretary and Company Spokesman Ahmed Al Janahi said: "We have established that the average number of calls a person makes to Directory Enquiries is two per month, so we are offering 10 free calls to those who cannot avail of the non-voice alternative DQ services and those with low incomes."
Charges were introduced for calls made from mobile phones last August. As part of Batelco's "social commitment" to the community, a fixed amount from each call was allocated and donated to charity. The amount of donation raised to date is more than BD11,000.
Following the TRA's (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) approval of the charging rate all calls made from fixed lines to Batelco's Directory Enquiries from yesterday will now be charged.
As per the mobile calls, a fixed amount from each call will be allocated and donated to charity.
Some of the charities that have recently benefitted from Batelco donations are Hope Institute for Special Education and Shaikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Centre.
Batelco's free online directory is available at www.bah-directory. com.bh and hard copies of Batelco Telephone Directory are distributed free of charge to households and businesses throughout the kingdom annually.
In order to give fixed line customers plenty of time to become familiar with the new charge, a pre-recorded message will be placed to remind users that their call to 181 or 188 will be charged.
