Dubai: Dozens of irate UAE residents complained to etisalat on Sunday when their mobile phones suddenly stopped working.
A large crowd gathered outside the etisalat headquarters near Al Marooj Rotana hotel when their phones showed they had no network coverage.
Some people said their phones showed a message saying "SIM card not registered" while others were bizarrely transferred to rival company du for a brief period.
etisalat said in a statement that the problem only affected customers with "very old SIM cards".
The statement said: "etisalat's engineering teams have confirmed they have successfully resolved a technical problem that affected customers with very old SIM cards.
"A few customers were unable to make or receive calls as their SIM card reported a message that it was 'not registered'.
etisalat's engineering teams had been undertaking planned network expansion at the time and have since identified and resolved the problem. All customers should now be able to make and receive calls as normal.
"Customers who faced issues were advised to turn-off their mobile and reactivate or visit an etisalat business centre. etisalat apologises and regrets the inconvenience caused to its customers."
The crowd outside the main headquarters of the UAE's largest telecommunications provider were initially told on Sunday morning the problem was caused by a "software update".
One subscriber, F.M. said: "I first noticed there was a problem with my mobile signal around 7:30am. I've experienced similar problems before, but all I've had to do was take out my SIM card, reboot my mobile and start again, but this time the problem persisted.
"There was a major panic as nobody knew what the problem was ... all it would have taken was an SMS from etisalat to say they were carrying out the work."
Despite etisalat claiming the problem had been successfully resolved, Gulf News spoke to several customers on Sunday evening who said their phones were still not working.
C.S. said: "At one point, the screen on my mobile showed I was on the du network! I've no idea what's going on."
Another customer, L.W, said: "I phoned etisalat and they said it had something to do with not paying my bill, but I don't owe them any money so I thought that was a bit strange."
Were you affected by this? Did you raise the issue with etisalat? Were they helpful?
Your comments
Yes, i am facing this problem from the last one week and i could not take international calls.
Ramesh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 12:35
its so unfortunate but we are happy for the engineers for resolving the problem as soon as posible thanks etisalat good work
Wahida
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 12:34
I tried to call the customer service but no chance to get connected to an operator. I've send an e mail but still no reply. I've bought a new sim card for 25dhs at 1pm and the mobile started working at around 5pm.
Roswitha Fernandez
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 12:09
I also faced this problem when I returned from my annual leave.My sim card stopped working when I reached Dubai.I was told to replace with a new sim card for 25 AED.I asked one of the personnel in Etisalat and he had no answer to why this problem is there. Etisalat has to seriously evaluate the kind of services they offer. UAE has been offering the latest devlopments everywhere except Etisalat. Its high time for Etisalat to improve their quality
BJ
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:42
Yes, All it happened about 7AM yesterday. After an hour or so, I tried to make calls to 101 and found it is engaged and hard to get through. I kept trying and got to speak with a customer care rep.. They had nothing else to say other than "we are trying to resolve this ASAP" ; and this was around 8:30AM y'day. Now it is more than 24 hours and still the same condition persists. Really pathetic performance by the service provider. Yes it happened to many old SIM cards only. I have been using this card from 1999. Don't know when this will be resolved.
Ashok
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:30
no i did not come across any such problem even though my sim card is more than 3 years old.
Falak Abbas
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:26
Look, if Etisalat is sending to us plenty of SMS with Special Offers why they can not think and predict problems and send SMS to people to warn about problems !!!
Maciek
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:21
It happened to me yesterday for about 3 hours. It was indicating 3G below the net work indicator. net work coverage was not there as well as it was not registering the SIM card. The same problem was there before some days.
Satheesh Kumar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:11
My phone was out from morning and when I went to etisalat office, they informed me that there is some problem and it will be resolved but they dont know when.
This effected my work
Faisal
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:09
Yes my mobile shows sim crd not registered.I never changed my card , shall i replace with new sim?
Babu Thomas
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:04
i called several times,unable to reach them.as their no101, was engage all the time, finally when i get to speak to them,and told my network wasnt working,their reply was technician were working on it, thats it,my mobile problemn started at 0730hrs yesterday,and got connected back only at 2315hrs.
Rolland
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:55
I had a strange case on Friday night. I was trying to make calls, but I got the voice message that I don't have sufficient funds, but when I checked my balance I found out that I still have 35 AED remaining. I called the customer service numerous times, but they failed to give me a satisfactory answer.
Pierre
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:41
I am one of the affected customers. When I had problem with my Al Shamil and Land Phone, they have visited and found there is some cable problem at my end. Since the problem at my end they have charged me AED:150/- for the said visit. But now the problem with Etisalat end???
Balasubramanian.K
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:32
My mobile stopped working yesterday at 8am. Despite calling etisalat many times, there was no network till 6pm! What would have happened if i was stuck in an emergency situation...
Soha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:11
Currently peaple are facing a lot of technical difiiculties with etisalat mobile services including the "Blackberry" issues. Few days before I was not receiving any calls even my phone was in Ã?N" condition. The callers were receiving the message as the mobile is in "Switch OFF" mode. One of my friend was also facing the same problem. The customers including me are loosing the trust in etisalat's service. They must take it very seriously as it is affecting the public a lot.
James Cyriac
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:10
Yes, it happened to me as well. I got the first msg "SIM CARD NOT REGISTERED" early morn sometime last week. Switching off and rebooting helped, but the same msg would re-appear 10 mins after the reboot. A call to ETISALAT was handled very professionally. The agent asked me to check if my SIM worked in another cell phone, and if the problem persisted, then it meant the SIM card was "spoilt". The problem continued thru the evening and seemed to set itself right the next day. And now it turns out that it was all due to a "software upgrade". Yes, SMSs to individual customers would've been ideal. But the least Etisalat could've done is to have informed at least their "101" staff, who could've then given factual information to irate customers.
Ajit Kini
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:10
I was calling my brother yesterday since morning and he was not picking up my call. I was worried about him. In the afternoon, he called me and said there was some a problem in his phone. Later i came to know, the problem was with the service provider but not with a phone.
Abu Bakr Malek
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:05
I also seem to be having a lot of cross connection happening, even whilst i speak to a person.
Ritesh
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:01
Since last 2 days my sim offenly not working.Still the signal is not getting completely.I don't know the complaint number of etisalat.
Varughese M J
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 09:14
As Etisalat claims that its due to very old sim card, I dont agree with them, its been since not over 4 months i buy 3G router internet from Etisalat, but its still disconnect after every 3 mins and no signals at all.. question was is my sim card also SOO vary old? also my bill for the internet comes more then 1400 DHS which is normal Fixed 180 DHS. dont know whats going on..
Touseef
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 09:13
with out prior notice problem persisted, caused too many problem, mobiles of colleagues are working, not mine. Tried to repair the instrument
Abdul Rahman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 09:08
Etisalat keeps asking for more ! It's angering to see a company not care about how good its services are. And Etisalat's customer support is nothing but a joke, the ones you somehow end up speaking with someone who gives you all the wrong answers.
Khalid
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 09:08
I had experienced the same problem. Then I went to Etisalat office of Al Yahar in Al Ain region. They just changed my sim card for Dhs. 25. Simply I lost my money as well as 150 phone nos. stored in that sim card.
Naveen Shetty
Al Ain,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 09:00
I recently purchased an Iphone 3G from Etisalat with prepaid package and Im having so many problems with it, like deducting my credit irrelevently and so much more and even after regestering my complaint their engineers didn't replied.
Danish Nasim
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:57
I had similar kind of problem with my mobile as well which was showing Inactive SIM. What Etisalat is saying that the problem was with very old SIM cards is not true. My SIM card is not even one month old. When i Contacted Etisalat they asked me to try my SIM in another mobile whcih i did but was facing same problem. As i had two numbers, continuing with the old number.
Azim Hajwane
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:55
My phone was not receiving any calls or text messages but strangely enough I could call out. Those who tried to call me were informe that i was outside the coverage area. After calling Etisalat I was informed that there was a slight techinical hitch and things would be back to normal by the end of the day. True to their word, it was back to normal by that evening.
Lilian
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:54
I'm absolutely outraged by the comment/statement from Etisalat issued to today's paper. I have my SIM card for 9 years and, obviously, instead of getting loyalty support I get more abuse! I had my phone showing message with "SIM card not allowed" from 7:30am until 7pm, completely cut off of my business phone/services! However, Etisalat was quick enough to take the monthly charges for my BlackBerry yesterday.
I have called Etisalat help line in the morning with a lot of difficulties, as we have DU landline at work, and I couldn't reach Etisalat even on their "abroad" number, thus I had to borrow friend's mobile. Then I was told that Etisalat is aware of the problem and that it will take 2-3 hours (this was 9am). No sorry or any type of suggestion how to deal with it.
I have faced quite few problems with Etisalat ever since I have signed up for my BlackBerry services (2 months back) and not one single help-person was able to give me full information/help. Call after call I was getting more complete info but never full support and until now I'm constantly losing network, which I'm paying for, and my battery last barely one day.
It would be nice for change if Etisalat would offer a bit of support to their customers in aim not to lose them.
Zuzana
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:52
I have this problem frequently for the last two weeks. I thought it was due to my mobile (Nokia N73). Now I bought a new one because of this.
Jayaraj
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:51
Another blooper from etisalat. First the blackberry patch, and now software update. Matter of common sense to have appropriate change management in place. It could have helped identify the issue. Inform users of any outages / changes. I know of another telecom provider that usually uses the media to inform people of outages, even if it is for brief period. Hope the problem is actually resolved, as indicated.
Manish
Doha,Qatar
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:49
Hi GN team, phone 4 days back with no incoming calls and my callers complained that my phone was switched off. When I contacted Etisalat, they said a few subscribers had this problem and over the phone, I was guided to modify so many settings and it got right after that exercise. I had to suffer from the evening till the following morning. Etisalat should have a system of informing their subscribers in advance of any technical issue so that we do not get panic.
Geeta C Mohan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:49
Yes. I turned it off for an hour then turned it on again. Then it worked. There's no need to panic since it will happen if there is system upgrade.
Kiko
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:49
I think I suffered a precursor of this problem. I had no signal on my Etisalat mobile last Wednesday morning, this despite the fact that colleagues sitting only metres away from me had signals on their phones. I was litterally just about to go and buy a new phone when the signal reappeared at about 9.30am. By the way I think my sim is 12 or 13 years old now.
Paul Sherlock
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:36
I had experience the same problem though my sim is working I wasn't able to send messages it happened last week that week I can't receive any messages. They cannot reason out that the sims of their customers are too old because they have the policy to renew it every year. Why can't they just inform the customers that they are upgrading the system?
Shella
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:35
I went with this problem to etisalat office.They issued me new sim card and charged me 25 dhs fee.I don't understand why I should pay for etisalat's technical problem.
Moi Al Deen Hakim
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:33
I can make calls from my mobile but when you dial my mobile it says the number is not a working number and does not exist, I complained to 101 but they are not able to solve this problem.
Everest Fernandes
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:26
Yes. I cannot make an outgoing call for 8 days now! Everyday i am following up but unfortunately the only help that the customer service can give is that they will send an email to their IT department and somebody from IT will call me but so far it's been more than a week now but nobody from IT department called me! It is so frustrating.
Jay Sia
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:17
needless to say Etisalat is the best of the providers, but this thing Etisalat should have informed all these so called "very old subscribers", as Etisalat never forgets sending the unwanted SMS's persistenetly.
I still face the problem with my SIM card and it is 12 years Old,and i beleive we should be treated by Etisalat with more privilege.
Hope Etisalat will not let these kind of things happen again in future.
Syed
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:11
I was affected. I didn't raise an issue with etisalat. 15 years ago no one had a mobile phone and it was normal that people could only get in touch through Land lines.
A day without a mobile was quite nice. In the evening I restarted my mobile and it worked so I assumed the problem must have been with my handset.
Maybe we should have an international mobile-off day?
Suzann
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:08
I am very suspicious about Etisalat. I feel that there is no transparancy in their business operations. In this particular story they should pay some sort of compensation to all the effected customers.
Amr Bilal
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:08
An absolutely untolerable event from 7.30am -10.47 am yesterday due to the outage of reception. It did cause chaos however glad Etisalat authorities were able to salvage the situation.
Hope this does not recur!!
Kumar Kripalani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:06
I think its high time that Etisalat is question for the quality of service they provide. Recently we saw the issue with blackberry subscribers. Etisalat said that they would come out with a report within 24 hours but looks like the matter has been shunned off from the public.
Rino Suren
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 08:00
Ideally, Etisalat should inform it's customer well in advance in case of any software updates. I hope in future Etisalat would do that to keep it's customers happy.
Sekharrao R.
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 07:24
I too had this problem yesterday and last week also i had this problem.But my concern is why don't ETISALAT send a sms saying that they are upgrading the software so that we all will know the route cause of the problem. It was a waste of time for all the people visiting etisalat office. we get unnecessary sms very often,why not for this software upgrade.
Paul
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 07:13
Currently I am in india and have problem with roaming service. Since yesterday morning I cannot make or receive calls. It is really frustrating
Satish Mayya
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 06:45
Apart from myself, I know atleast a dozen people whose phones were not working.. Since I am a Blackberry user on the same line, unfortunately the problem was compounded since entire communications got disconnected. At least till 10 o clock even Etisalat helpline did not know about the problem itself and they were advising me to replace the SIM card. The problem was resolved around 8 pm .. a good 12 hour black out. Despite all this Etisalat would just tender a small apology without clearly identifying the problem. Why shouldnt they be held responsible. With regret, I do not feel Etisalat has back up planning for such problems.
Farhan Khan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 06:10
I faced the same problem, last week on wed the 22nd and was advised by Etisalat's helpdesk 101 that my sim card was faulty and that I would have to pay Dh.25 to have it replaced, by visiting the nearest business centre. Which I did so. Since yesterday the 26th early morning, my sim card is not working again. This is a brand new sim card and despite being out of service for more than 24hours the sim card is still not working. I was told yesterday by the helpdesk at 8pm that within 1 hour it would be working. This morning is still no update, apology or rectification of the situation by Etisalat.
S. F.
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 05:47
I was one of the sufferers . If someone has a Old sim card means they have been Etisalat subcribers for a long time.
Prabhakar
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 02:48
I had the same problem and had to replace a new SIM card but Etisalat charged me Dhs25 to replace it.
Yousuf
Al Ain,UAE
Posted: July 27, 2009, 02:28
