They will photocopy it in the store and do some paperwork, which can take a while. Both are rather expensive compared to other Arab countries, especially when it comes to foreign voice calls.įor buying a SIM card you need to show your passport with visa stamp. So it's easy to compare plans which are still slightly different between operators. The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE has revealed that the country’s 2G networks will be shut down at the end of 2022, with spectrum to be repurposed to support 5G services.īoth du and etisalat now have shops in the arrival halls of all three terminals at the airport of Dubai as well as in the airport of Abu Dhabi, where you can buy the SIM card right away at arrival without surcharge. The first MVNOs or rather subsidiaries started in 2017 with Virgin Mobile on the du network and a new youth brand on etisalat. The coverage of both operators is very good in the cities, populated areas and along the desert highways on 2G, 3G and even 4G/LTE, giving good speed and performance. The country remains nevertheless a duopoly with two state-associated providers.īoth Etisalat's "Visitor Line" and Du's "Tourist SIM" offer the best value-for-money for the typical tourist.ĢG is on 9 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz up to DC-HSPA+, 4G/LTE is on 1800 MHz (B3) and 800 MHz (B20), 5G NR has started in 2019 on 3500 MHz (n78) in major towns like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Etisalat quickly opened up stores in tourist areas and now competes with du for prepaid plans.
Nowadays, both are pretty much on par as far as speeds and coverage are concerned. Rival du, now at 9 million customers, filled the gap and aimed at the many migrant workers, prepaid clients and tourists. Etisalat is the biggest provider in the UAE with 13 million users, but used to be focused more to local and landline customers. The first MVNO Virgin Mobile launched on the du network in 2017.īoth of them are partly state-owned. The United Arab Emirates have two network providers: 3.2 Tourist plan - free SIM cards at Dubai airports (or pre-book online).1.5 VoIP ban (Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facetime etc.).
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