Dubai: For residents of a new community, Warsan Village, which is located on the outskirts of the city, there is power, water but surprisingly, no internet connection.
With no sign of whether the area will be covered by etisalat or du, residents have resorted to installing satellite dishes to operate their TVs. Many are also requesting a temporary fixed LTE connection from etisalat to connect to the internet.
Developer Nakheel told Gulf News it is “are currently liaising with the service providers,”. However, there is no clear indication of when residents can expect full telecommunication services in their homes.
Warsan Village comprises more than 930 villas and most of them are inhabited. Residents, who moved into the area early this year, told Gulf News that they were promised a solution by May 2017 at the latest.
Sudanese villa owner, Aasim Sa’adi, said he was told by the developer that the infrastructure for telecommunication services was not ready during handover back in February, and that it would be completed in the next couple of months.
“I have submitted two requests to etisalat and du and spoke to the representatives weeks after to follow up. I was told they don’t have a record of my request, so I realised it is because there is not infrastructure for telecom connection in the area to begin with,” explained Sa’adi.
The new resident said he reached out to the developer and was told a decision has not been made yet as to which service provider will be designated to the area.
Like many other residents in the area, Sa’adi has a fixed LTE internet connection installed by etisalat, which operates through an antenna and a SIM card.
Another resident B.M said there has been no change in the situation since he moved into the community two months ago.
“When we moved, we applied for LTE from etisalat as a temporary solution, but after several follow ups, etisalat said they stopped the service temporarily without giving any alternative solution [as to] how we can get [an] internet connection,” he said.
B.M. pointed out he had purchased additional mobile data packages since, and is suffering the consequences of poor management.
Another resident, Rishi K., said has been living without an internet connection for over two months.
“I had a surgery in my leg that made me immobile for a month and I had to work from home. Because of this issue I had to pay a lot of money and use mobile data,” she explained.
Frustrated and disappointed, Rishi K. highlighted the inconvenience residents in the community are facing on a daily basis, pointing out the situation goes against “Dubai’s vision of being the smartest city in the world.”
Meanwhile, Sarah M., a mother of two, said she was shocked to learn about the internet issue in the community after she moved in.
“It has been really hard for us as we live away from our family and need to skype every few days. Having no wifi connection has also raised our budget for additional data,” she added.
Along with other residents in the community, Sarah M. describes accessibility to internet as a “basic need” that should be provided in every community before its completion.
