Dubai: Come June 12, it will be time again for the soccer buffs in the UAE to tune in to what they call the ‘greatest show on earth’ –- the Fifa World Cup. beIN Sports have launched a special package to telecast the 64 matches over a month, which the eitsalat and du subscribers can avail by subscribing to the package separately.
Du will be beaming the showpiece through five dedicated beIN Sports channels for Dh440 plus no rental for the event, to be held in Brazil till July 13.
“Our customers have been eagerly waiting for the start of the World Cup and we wanted to make their viewing experience as convenient as possible by launching a tailored package one month before the start of the event,” Fahad Al Hassawi, Chief Executive Officer Commercial at du, told Gulf News.
“Etisalat’s eLife customers can be a part of the World Cup this year at no extra cost with new eLife Sports or Premium Packages. For a monthly fee starting at Dh499 per month, customers can subscribe to the new eLife Sports or Premium packages which includes subscription to the FIFA World Cup, along with beIN SPORTS, AD Sports, eLife On and high speed internet starting from 20Mbps,” Rashed Al Abbar. vice-president of home product marketing at etisalat, said in a emailed-statement to Gulf News.
Etisalat also provides the option for existing eLife TV customers to subscribe to beIN SPORTS on eLife TV and add the FIFA World Cup Package for a one time charge of Dh450.
Customers can watch the matches on seven dedicated channels of beIN SPORTS. For existing eLife TV customers, there is no need to change receivers and for new customers eitisalat will provide an HD box to enjoy these channels. The channels include two channels in Arabic, two in English, two in French and one in Spanish.
To enjoy the FIFA 2014 World Cup, existing eLife customers can upgrade their subscriptions to the new eLife Sports or Premium package and get an internet speed upgrade as well.
“The eLife ON service that features the ability to watch live streaming TV on iPad, iPhone and Android smart phones of premium sports channels such as Dubai Sports, Abu Dhabi Sports Abu Dhabi Sport channels, beIN SPORTS and FIFA World Cup,” Al Abbar said.
Subscribers can make a request through phone or at the etisalat business centres and the World Cup package will be activated within two hours.
“The subscription allows customers to follow the World Cup games with commentary in Arabic, English, French and Spanish and is available for a one-off payment that is based on provider pricing,” Du’s Al Hassawi said.
Du customers can subscribe to the beIN Sports Fifa World Cup TV package by calling 04-3905555. The customer does not need to “cancel any existing subscriptions or change their set-top box to avail this package,” he said.
OSN’s call centre person said that OSN is not showing the matches as they don’t have the right for beIN Sports and if the subscribers want to watch the matches, they need to subscribe to beIN Sports through a separate receiver.
“There are many advantages to watching matches through du and the beIN Sports FIFA World Cup TV package –- not only will customers experience seamless access to each match in the comfort of their own home, but they’ll never miss a match either,” Al Hassawi said.
Du’s rewind TV feature will also allow customers to replay up to eight hours of live television, and du TV+ customers can record the matches to watch at their own convenience. This, according to the official, is of significance as most of the matches will be held at rather unearthly hours as per UAE timings because of the time difference.
The earliest kick-off will be 8 pm UAE time, followed by matches starting at 11 pm, 2am and even 5am. The final will kick off at Rio’s Maracana Stadium from 11 pm.
