Dubai: How would you like to get a landline telephone and 20 minutes of international calls per month for free?
The UAE's dominant telecom carrier etisalat is doing just that. The caveat: customers must upgrade from a slower Al Shamil internet line (256kb) to an eLife package that offers phone and internet services on the same connection. The free 20 minutes of international calls per month is permanent, the company's call centre staff said. Additional freebies include caller ID, voice mail and IDD lock/unlock.
Etisalat, whose fibre-to-home network has achieved nearly 100 per cent coverage in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is leveraging its infrastructure to rope in clients as competition with du intensifies. In some cases, etisalat salespersons and installers go door to door unannounced to visit to customers and encourage them to sign up for the upgrade.
While eLife Masterplan (8MB) package doubles the monthly fee to Dh299 from Dh149 for a 256kb Al Shamil package, the internet speed leaps by 30 times.
Giving a telecom service for free, however, may run against a federal competition policy that prevents offering service below cost, said industry observers.
"There's no monthly rental for a landline," an etisalat staff said. The carrier recently announced the addition of high-definition TV on the same strand of glass cable in a triple-play bundle (internet, telephone and TV), allowing people to see the FIFA World Cup 2010 for free.
Etisalat said eLife subscribers with faster connections of 16MB (Premier, Dh399 per month) to 30MB (Max, Dh549 per month) can enjoy the month-long soccer mania in high-definition TV for the first time. The offer is valid until July 11. For more, call 800 PROMO (800 77666).
