Millions of mobile phone users in the UAE can now start the process of switching providers while keeping their existing number.
Etisalat customers will be able to switch to du and retain their phone number after the Dubai-listed company yesterday said it had enabled mobile number portability.
At last month’s Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority issued a directive for both telecoms operators to enable mobile portability by the end of the year.
Etisalat customers who wish to switch to du can send a mobile short message “CHANGE” to 3553. But they have to wait until next month for the change to take effect.
Mobile subscriptions in the UAE in June stood at 14.9 million; Etisalat had 8.29 million, du had 6.65 million, according to the research firm Informa Telecoms & Media.
About 87 per cent of subscribers are prepaid customers. The prepaid market is traditionally not significantly affected by mobile number portability.
Osman Sultan, du’s chief executive, had said that mobile number portability was not a “game changer” any more. It would have been more favourable for du four years ago, but the process was delayed because of technical glitches.
Petr Molik, the investment bank Menacorp’s head of financial advisory, said du was expecting to attract some of Etisalat’s high-value and corporate clients by offering better pricing and making it easy for individuals and companies to switch providers.
While neither Etisalat nor du publish information on the percentage of customers that switch providers, research from the cloud computing company Dropbox suggests that the “churn rate” for both UAE operators stands at 32 per cent every year.
In Bahrain, only 2.2 per cent of the country’s mobile subscriber base made use of mobile number portability; in Oman, it was just 0.25 per cent, according to the market research firm International Data Corporation.
thamid@thenational.ae
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)
Engine 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch
Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est)
ON%20TRACK
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia