Batelco's decision to cut international call rates in line with a ruling by the International Telecommunication Union also had an impact on the firm's profitability, with an insufficient increase in traffic volume to compensate for the price cut. 'Batelco is a mature company with a small market, so we weren't anticipating particularly strong growth, although we did think it would be slightly better than this,' says a London-based analyst. 'There should be an improvement next year when the company's investments in overseas internet service providers start to yield improved returns.'