Bahrain residents will soon enjoy the comfort of paying their utility bills from their mobile phones. This is the latest among the series of eGovernment initiatives.

The services, reportedly, will be launched by the beginning of September 2009.

“We will launch the service before the end of August,” Mohamed Ali Al Qaed, CEO of Bahrain’s eGovernment Authority (eGA), told Arabian Business in an interview. “We wanted to make sure that we had the right security in place before we allowed people to pay on their mobiles,” he continued. “Now we have a new model that will be totally secure.”

Apart from utilities bill payment, mobile users will be granted 23 other services before the end of August including detailed searches for hotels and restaurants, Daily Price Index etc. The eGA already offers customers 17 services on their mobile phones, including real-time flight arrival and departure information, specialist medical services searches, and postal tracking.

Bahrain’s eGovernment initiatives have attracted widespread acclaim, and the UN recently selected Al Qaed to represent Arab countries and West Asia on the Strategic Council for Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), part of the United Nations Dept. for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). It is notable that Al Qaed is the first Gulf national to hold such a position.

Source Courtesy: http://www.itp.net/news/561494-bahrain-set-to-launch-bill-payments-by-mobile-phone#continueArticle