Category: Our News

Operating in the most competitive of times, Kalaam Telecom has sustained its business model, become profitable and continues to deliver value to its clients. The past year has been an eventful one for Kalaam Telecom, as it has been for the telecom sector at large within the Kingdom.

“Consequent to the entrance of the third mobile operator in early March 2010, Kalaam was able to realign its strategy to take advantage of the resulting market dynamics,” says Veer Passi, Kalaam Telecom chief operating officer. “Not only have we expanded our market share in the corporate sector, but we also became EBIDTA positive in our fifth year of operation.”

“The aggressive marketing buzz created in the retail segment actually helped us in promoting our services to corporate businesses. The timing was just right; as corporations, faced with the current economic scenario, were looking for cost-saving options. It allowed us to gain momentum. Our established line of business solutions was well received by these clients, as they now had a practical option to help lower their communications costs.”

2011 Vision

“As we look ahead, we plan to expand the capacity and reach of our wireless and wired infrastructure,” advises Veer. “We will also participate in the Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) project, currently being finalised by the TRA.”

In the meantime, Kalaam intends to capitalise on the momentum achieved so far, continuing to grow its customer base through strategic marketing and to maintain the brand’s promise to be customer-focused, quality-driven and consistently provide value-based solutions.

“In the immediate future,” Veer adds. “Kalaam is hosting an inBusiness stand at both the Food and Hospitality Exhibition, at Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, from February 8-10, and the Middle East Financial Technology Market Show on April 18-19. So, please come down and see — we’d be delighted to talk to you”

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain: Kalaam Telecom, in a forward-thinking move, released their latest corporate campaign for 2011 in 3D! Now screening at Bahrain International Airport (BIA) till 31st December 2010, Kalaam’s 3D animated advert is showcased in three 42-inch 3DTV screens and requires no special glasses to view. Hosted by Balfour International Group, the 3D experience kiosks installed in both the arrivals and departures concourses broadcast continuous footage of vivid visuals and animated adverts that provide the 3D effect based on Phillips’ Wow 3D technology.

“We were keen to present the innovative spirit of Kalaam Telecom in a unique way. The 3DTV viewing experience without special glasses provided us with an ideal opportunity to launch our 2011 corporate campaign: “Experience the Kalaam Advantage” in this fresh approach to advertising. We are excited to be among the first telecoms to be involved in reaching our audience through this powerful 3D medium brought to Bahrain by Balfour Group International”, stated Veer Passi, Chief Operating Officer of Kalaam Telecom Bahrain.

“After many years of development, 3D screen technology is now surpassing all expectations in terms of impact for the advertiser and the general consumer. After successful launches of the 3D experience in the UK, the UAE, India and Germany, Balfour has now brought the 3D experience to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” says, Charles Firebrace, Head of Business Development, Balfour International Group.

“Creating an animated 3D corporate ad was an exciting challenge for us especially as we had no idea how the effects would come through‟, added Anna Kelly, Communications Manager at Kalaam. “As an alternate voice and data service provider, Kalaam Telecom’s 2011 corporate campaign focuses on the five-fold advantage Kalaam provides a customer. To highlight this message, through images that provide the depth required for the 3D effect in a 15 second spot was daunting, at first, but we are now very pleased with the released advert. It‟s quite engaging to see Kalaam’s message in 3D with the elements of the brand projected and floating in front of the TV screens.”

The 3DTV Screens are located at opposite Gate 12 in the Departures concourse and at the Green Channel Exit in the Arrivals Lounge at the Bahrain International Airport.

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain: Kalaam Telecom (B.S.C), one of the leading voice and data services provider has appointed BBK, a pioneer in commercial and retail banking as its cash management partner. The formation of this new relationship will aim to accelerate Kalaam’s receivables through accepting bill payments of its corporate clients over-the-counters in all BBK Financial Malls and branches allowing easy access to its customers through its wide presence across the country.

“We selected BBK for its demonstrated comprehensive cash management suite of services for corporate, which compliments Kalaam’s existing an d potential customer base,” said Veer Passi, Chief Operating Officer (Acting) & Chief Financial Officer of Kalaam Telecom. “We believe BBK’s branch network combined with the Cash Management solution offers our customers additional locations to settle their bill payments and simultaneously accelerates our receivables.”

“This partnership is one of a number of strategic commitments to ultimately enable our customers to better manage their working capital. At BBK, we focus on being innovative in providing services that increase efficiencies in managing the corporate financial supply chain,” said Sh. Rashed Al Khalifa, GM – Business Group, BBK.

“Now in our 5th year of operations, we at Kalaam strive to enhance our customer’s experience by providing hassle-free payment options to make post-paid bill payments easier,” continued Veer Passi, “we also offer multiple payment modes including an easy-to-pay online payment option on Kalaam’s website wherein all our corporate clients can login to their account and pay their bills through a simple customer-friendly interface.”

In addition to BBK’s extensive branch network, Kalaam Telecom partners with Bahrain Financing Company (BFC) and Bahrain India International Exchange (BIIECO), allowing Kalaam’s customers to make bill payments through more than 50 conveniently located centers.

Kalaam Telecom, one of Bahrain’s leading alternative operators, has migrated to a full NGN solution using the DIGITALK SIP Application Server.

The growing acceptance and trust of VoIP technology in the region means that Kalaam Telecom has been able to optimise service offerings and are now able to more effectively grow and serve their subscriber base with a reduced operational cost model while being able to offer new revenue generating services on top of existing service offerings.

.The NGN DIGITALK Multiservice Platform (a SIP based Application Server) offers enhanced redundancy, security and load-sharing capabilities due to the integral Session Border Controller, enabling Kalaam to have confidence in uptime and solution availability to further enhance customer service quality and strengthen loyalty.

DIGITALK have extensive experience in migrations from legacy TDM to NGN infrastructures with many operators seeing the cost benefit of moving to an NGN.

Suleiman Maani, CEO of Kalaam commented “We were looking to take better advantage of the cost savings available by investing in NGN infrastructure and we had very tight deadlines in order to maintain service levels. DIGITALK’s project team were very flexible in reducing the standard project and installation times with a very successful switch-over.”

Mark Ashdown, EVP of DIGITALK added “As we see further adoption of SIP within network operators, the transition to NGN technology continues to gather momentum. Our relationship with Kalaam Telecom is a fine example of where strong vision is matched with a robust and scalable solution to ensure a cost effective service is delivered for all for the long term.”