# Cell phone



## Big Mitch (Jan 6, 2013)

Greetings. Will be moving to Dubai for work in February. My question is on cell phones and providers. Does anyone have suggestions on service providers and/or better phones to use there?


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome.

There are only two providers, Etisalat and Du, but this topic has been covered numerous times, so I suggest you use the search facility.


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## Big Mitch (Jan 6, 2013)

Thank you Elphaba.


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## Black Jack (Jul 24, 2011)

any links to some of the more recent and informative threads would be appreciated.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Basically you have Welcome to Etisalat or du Telecom | Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company - each have package deals on various smart phones. Plus they offer various data packages as well. You can go contract or pay as you go. Personally I find Etisalat better for coverage.

I would say the top 3 products of phone are iphone, blackberry and Samsung - it's basically down to personal choice.


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## Black Jack (Jul 24, 2011)

is there any way of getting "specials" or "deals" on plans as you can here in North America?


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

You'd have to visit their respective websites and check!


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## Black Jack (Jul 24, 2011)

I have an unlocked Blackberry 9900 I was going to bring to Dubai with me and from what I can tell the rates seem quite ridiculous! (compared to Canada Anyway).

From what I can tell I will need to purchase blackberry internet services as an extra? Wheras if using an Iphone you can get an "all inclusive" package.

It also seems that with etisalat there is a 500mb cap on internet with the highest package? that seems very low.


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## sammylou (Oct 29, 2012)

Black Jack said:


> I have an unlocked Blackberry 9900 I was going to bring to Dubai with me and from what I can tell the rates seem quite ridiculous! (compared to Canada Anyway).
> 
> From what I can tell I will need to purchase blackberry internet services as an extra? Wheras if using an Iphone you can get an "all inclusive" package.
> 
> It also seems that with etisalat there is a 500mb cap on internet with the highest package? that seems very low.


i have not looked at post paid plans at all but my husband used his unlocked blackberry here with a prepaid sim. he had voice and text, he did not bother with data at the time. nothing about having to buy bb services.

we now both have iphones and pay as we go. both on etisalat and happy enough with them. basically you top up however much credit you want and then with different sms codes you can allot how it's used. i get 1 mb of data valid for 30 days for 99 dhs, then text and voice as i use the credits. they have different "specials" for text bundles and such. neither of us have bothered with voicemail and neither of us miss it. so far with prepaid we are coming out ahead of what we used to pay in canada. fwiw i have not had any problems with reception for etisalat but i hear that du customers frequently experience limited coverage.

kinda sucks that coming from canada, where we have one of the highest mobile rates in the world we end up in one of the few countries that might be more expensive than we are!

on the bright side, they don't cap data use on the home internet. that was a pleasant surprise.


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## Black Jack (Jul 24, 2011)

In terms of POSTPAID from what I can tell there are some decent packages at etisalat (225 AED):
Etisalat - Mobile - iPhone 5

That includes Internet as well as 800 local minutes....

The thing is I cannot find anything on their website in terms of similar pricing for Blackberry. It looks like I would have to get a voice bundle and a Blackberry bundle seperately which would come up to near 500 AED for what I need. Am I missing something?

I will look into your suggestions for PRE PAID, It might be enough for me. Thanks for the suggestion.

WHen you "RE-CHARGE" a phone on PRE PAID is there a time limit for which that money is good?


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## sammylou (Oct 29, 2012)

Black Jack said:


> WHen you "RE-CHARGE" a phone on PRE PAID is there a time limit for which that money is good?


not that i am aware unless you go several months without using your phone. but if you use it on a regular basis the credit will remain valid. with the exception of data which they like to cap to either 1 day, 1 week or 1 month depending on what you choose.


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## terdubai (Feb 15, 2012)

On Du, prepaid, there are several recharge options. Some have an expiration date of 30 days and some do not - I've learned to be very careful about how I recharge. The data option is only for good for 30 days at a time.


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## Black Jack (Jul 24, 2011)

Am I correct in my assumptions that a Blackberry seems much more expensive than an Iphone all in all with etisalat? (this is what i gather from their website anyway)

Im trying to decide whether to sell my BB bold before I leave here.

Also I cannot seem to find anywhere on the etisalat website which speaks to the options to purchase DATA on PRE-PAID plans (such as 99 AED for 1 Gig per month).


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Black Jack said:


> Am I correct in my assumptions that a Blackberry seems much more expensive than an Iphone all in all with etisalat? (this is what i gather from their website anyway)
> 
> Im trying to decide whether to sell my BB bold before I leave here.


If you are thinking about buying the phone along with a plan from the carriers, i don't think there is much difference and pretty sure the iPhone is the more expensive one. But out here if you've got the 'bread to spread' it's cheaper to buy a phone independently and then get a sim/plan on it...

If you are happy with your phone then I would recommend keeping it and using it out here.. you could go for a new one, it is DSF time right now and there are deals, and you'll be getting a head-start on the dubai/u.a.e pass-time of owning the snazziest phone on the market as soon as it comes out lol... 



Black Jack said:


> Also I cannot seem to find anywhere on the etisalat website which speaks to the options to purchase DATA on PRE-PAID plans (such as 99 AED for 1 Gig per month).


Etisalat - Personal - Mobile Internet
(Note: 1 GB Monthly Plan)


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

I have a pre-paid SIM with Etisalat and use a BB Bold, I pay 185 Dhs a month and that covers everything - BB services, Internet and all my apps.


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## de Mexicaan (Apr 16, 2012)

I bought an iPhone separately and took a Du 100 dirham postpaid plan which gives 100 minutes national and international calls, 100 texts and 1 GB data.


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