Bahrain is a small, oil-rich nation known for its blue water beaches and traditional pearl industry. It is not a cheap country to live in, hence getting the best SIM card in Bahrain can be a costly affair. There are only 3 telecom companies in the country: STC, Zain, and Batelco. You can buy a Bahraini SIM card easily if you are 18 years old or above with some restrictions. The currency used in Bahrain is Bahraini Dinar (BHD). The starting price of STC Bahrain SIM card is 7 BHD, while Zain Bahrain and Batelco SIM cards cost 6.30 BHD and 4 BHD respectively.
Luckily, these SIM cards come with starter plans that include voice minutes, data, and SMS. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable to pay such a hefty price for SIM cards alone. All three telecommunications companies provide 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G NR frequencies. 5G NR is free for postpaid customers, but for prepaid customers, the operators charge anywhere from 5 BHD to 5.25 BHD per month. Mobile data prices are quite low in this country compared to other rich countries in the world.
The average price per GB of data in Bahrain is 2.12 USD, which is less than the world average of 4.07 USD, and the Middle-Eastern average of 3.94 USD. Moreover, data speed in Bahrain is reasonably high as well, averaging around 82 Mbps. This speed is also much greater than the global average of 57 Mbps. For more details, let’s look deeper into the 3 mobile network operators of Bahrain.
1. Batelco
Batelco is a short form of Bahrain Telecommunication Company. It is the largest, the oldest, and the fastest wireless carrier in Bahrain. Its fastest maximum 4G/LTE speed is 133 Mbps, and the fastest 5G NR speed is noted at 640.3 Mbps. Batelco is also operating in Africa, the Middle-East, South America, and Europe, mostly through mergers and acquisitions. Coverage of Batelco is quite extensive in Bahrain, as it is available almost everywhere. The regular SIM of Batelco is locally known as SimSim.
Apart from the regular SIM cards, the company also provides data-only SIM cards called Batelco Prepaid Monthly Internet, sold from 7.35 BHD. Batelco sells their SIM cards in the official stores and Bahrain International Airport. Prepaid Monthly Internet (data-only SIM) starter packs range from 7.35 BHD (10 GB) to 37 BHD (3 TB). Batelco embedded SIM is also available for just 3.15 BHD, though it only works with some eligible devices. It gets deactivated automatically after inactivity (no top-up or SMS/call/data usage) of 120 days. You will lose your credit permanently after being inactive for 90 days.
Top-up vouchers of Batelco range from 1 BHD to 30 BHD with varied validity and are readily available in Batelco stores, grocery stores, kiosks, and more. Currently, their customers get 10 GB of data on top-ups of 6 BHD and more through online recharge. Batelco offers three data-featured plans: (i) Prepaid Packages, (ii) Prepaid Mobile Internet Vouchers, and (iii) Add-ons. Prepaid Packages are combo plans with minutes and data ranging from 4 BHD to 10 BHD. Prepaid Mobile Internet Vouchers are top-up cards for data-only recharges, costing between 1 BHD and 30 BHD. Add-ons represent data add-ons of 1 BHD, 5 BHD, and 10 BHD.
2. STC Bahrain
STC Bahrain, or simply STC, is the second-largest wireless carrier in Bahrain. It was called VIVA Bahrain until December 2019 and remains a powerful competitor to Batelco. The full form of STC is Saudi Telecom Company, and it’s a native company of Saudi Arabia. STC boasts of the best network coverage in Bahrain and their regular SIM card price starts at 7 BHD. Simultaneously, its data-only SIM card (referred to as Prepaid Broadband Internet) is available for 10.50 BHD.
You can get an STC eSIM for the same price as a regular SIM card, but if you want to upgrade from a standard SIM to it, you’ll need to pay 9 BHD. The SIM cards are available in STC stores and the Bahrain International Airport. An STC SIM card automatically gets deactivated after 120 days of inactivity, while the credit is lost after 90. STC top-ups range from 0.50 BHD to 30 BHD.
The company offers four data-featured plans, namely (i) Prepaid Plans (combo of minutes data priced between 7 BHD and 10 BHD) and (ii) 5G Add-on For Prepaid Mobile Plan (priced 5.25 BHD for 3 GB of data for 1 month). The third (iii) is Mobile Data Add-ons (data add-ons worth 1 BHD, 3 BHD, and 5 BHD), while the fourth (iv) is called YouTube Add-on (2 GB/day of YouTube data for 30 days costing 4.20 BHD).
3. Zain Bahrain
Zain Bahrain is the smallest wireless carrier in Bahrain. It was the first telecom company to end the monopoly of Batelco, but fell behind STC Bahrain when STC entered the telecom arena of Bahrain. Currently, it holds around 30% of the market share in the country. Zain is also active in Sudan, South Sudan, and several Middle-Eastern countries. A Zain prepaid SIM card (called eeZee Prepaid) is available with a starting price of 6.30 BHD, and its data-only SIM card (Zain Prepaid Mobile Broadband) is sold for 7.35 BHD.
The SIM card gets deactivated after 120 days of inactivity and the credit is forfeited after 90. Zain’s top-ups range from 0.50 BHD to 30 BHD, and are available in Zain Stores, grocery stores, gas stations, kiosks, and more. Recharging with eTop-Up online gives you more validity than regular recharge cards. Zain offers 8 data featured plans, starting with (i) eeZee Starter Packs (combo of data, SMS, and minutes priced between 3.15 BHD and 8 BHD).
There’s also (ii) Local Weekly & Monthly Social Media Packages (local and international minutes with social media data priced between 1.05 BHD and 6.30 BHD); (iii) Data Pass (1.05 BHD to 15.75 BHD); (iv) Unlimited Data Pass (1 BHD to 15.75 BHD); (v) Prepaid Mobile Broadband (7.35 BHD to 10.50 BHD); (vi) Data Vouchers (for prepaid mobile broadband, priced from 1 BHD to 30 BHD); (vii) Streaming Passes (3 BHD to 5 BHD); (viii) YouTube & Netflix Top-Ups (4.20 BHD).