Abu Dhabi satellite dishes ban ignored by landlords and tenants

Satellite dishes atop a residential building in the Mohammed bin Zayed City area of Abu Dhabi. The capital’s attempts to reduce the numbers of receivers are not working. Christopher Pike / The NationaShow more

ABU DHABI // Landlords and tenants appear to be ignoring a ban on satellite dishes on rooftops in the capital more than a year after the municipality passed it.

Many buildings in Abu Dhabi still have satellite dishes visible from the street after Abu Dhabi Municipality introduced restrictions on them on March 1 last year, aimed at improving the city’s appearance.

The municipality plastered posters in lobbies of buildings throughout the year and warned of Dh2,000 fines for violating the new rules.

A building is only allowed to have four satellite dishes, and all connections must be distributed through those, according to Decree No 2 of 2012.

At the time, the municipality had called upon landlords, tenants, investors and property companies to follow the regulations. Satellite dishes and cable extensions were “mushrooming in a haphazard manner on the walls, rooftops and balconies of these buildings” the municipality said through the state news agency, Wam.

A security guard at a five-storey building in Khalidiya neighbourhood said there had been no warnings from the municipality about the satellite dishes on their building, which has about 20 of them clearly visible.

“When we get a notice, then we would remove them,” said Mohammed, from Bangladesh, who did not provide his surname. He did not know that owners of other buildings had been told to remove them.

On most main streets in the capital, such as Delma, Airport Road and Muroor Road, villas and apartment buildings can be seen with rooftops cluttered by antennas. Under the decree, satellite dishes also cannot be installed on balconies, garden fences and walls.

“I told tenants to remove them and get the TV connections from Etisalat and du, but they don’t listen to us,” said another security guard, Roz Ali, whose building had more than 20 satellite dishes visible from the street.

The Bangladeshi pointed to a poster pasted on the wall of his five-storey building on Muroor Road, which he said tenants ignored. But building staff are not allowing new tenants to add their satellite dishes.

“We hope that within few months we will remove them all and only leave four as per rules,” Mr Ali said.

The dishes are mostly placed on rooftops by men living in the UAE without their families who share apartments with other individuals. Although owners of buildings in some areas in Khalidiya and Al Zahiyah appear to have removed many satellite dishes seen their a year ago, many are still installed.

“We haven’t been fined yet but we are aware of its removal. We are just telling our old tenants to remove them, otherwise they have to face fines from the municipality,” said Ghafoor, an Indian building manager in Khalidiya, who only provided his first name.

Staff at his building were removing them gradually, he said.

Since inspections were beefed up at immigration at airports across the country, single men have stopped bringing in satellite decoders from their home countries, which were cheaper than TV subscriptions.

An Indian, who asked not to be named, said he removed his satellite dish because he was afraid of having to pay the fine.

“Now I have an authorised TV network from Etisalat and we all share its monthly rental, which is about Dh70 for basic per month,” he said. “But for full channels, including sports, we can watch for 300 Indian rupees (Dh16.43).”