Spugsy

eight hundred bastard quid???

scot-ish

yup, and the month isnt finished yet, as she has no internet, she's been using it roaming, for skype and facebook to keep up2 date with whats going on with her certificates and what not, as well as chatting.

so need to sort something sooner than later, im coming out next thursday, and we will be in dubai for a couple days before back to Fujairah on the sunday, but id rather it was sorted before hand, as another week is likely to be another £200 or so.

norsk

she can go to etisalat and get a pay as you go microsim with just her passport (no need for residence). costs around AED100 for the simcard and then she can add some credit and request to add an internet bundle as well while in the shop. this costs AED145 for 1GB per month if i remember correctly.

scot-ish

cheers,
etisalat is right across the road from her apartment, but for some reason she went to Du for a number on an older phone for recieving calls, but no internet bundle?? as she said something about etisalat and no iPhones? i will speak to her later, and let her know, she can go into there in the morning and arrange it.

thanks again.

norsk

i have an iphone 4 on etisalat so they definitely do it..

scot-ish

excellent she will be in there tomorow to sort it out, cos im nae paying a £800 phone bill too often

Autonomy

confusion may be that Etisalat thought she want to sign up for iphone package and GET the iphone as part of a yearly deal (like you would in UK). They have no stock as far as I know.

BUT - your lady already has the iphone - she just needs the WASEL pay as you go microSIM and then can also top up pay as you go data package (I think).

That's what I assume the comment meant "no iphones".... or not - it is bloody madness / box of frogs here, never mind Fujariah, home of the Bull Butting Fights...

wilsonc

I brought my iPhone 4 over here from UK. I got payg(wasel) sim from etisalat for 50AED. I had to wait for an hour till it was registered (full size sim), then had to go to a kiosk in Bawadi Mall (Al Ain) for them to cut it into a microsim. Etisalat at the time did not supply micro sims. I used it for a month on payg then upgraded to post pay when I moved into my apartment. Hopefully they are issuing microsims now.

When I mentioned iPhones they always assumed that they would be supplying as most people get them that way.

norsk

they have proper microsims now but they make you buy the full size sim first and then when the number is active they replace it with a micro. i don't get why they do it this way, but suspect it is just to make more money. i had to pay AED75 for full size and then AED25 to switch..

Welivehere

You don't need to wait for the micro SIM. It is very simple to turn a full SIM into a micro SIM, the only change is to the plastic body, the chip remains as is.

Most of the other big electrical retailers or (I would guess) any of the independent phone suppliers can make full SIM into a micro in a couple of seconds. Jumbo for instance have punch that does it. The other options in Google, when i couldnt get a micro SIM in Kenya I made cut down a normal SIM in a couple of minutes with just a pair of nail scissors.

Bahtatboy

Yep, first independent phone shop I walked into in AD (on 11th Street, between 4th and 6th Street) had the punch to do it (looks like a medium-sized stapler). AED 10 or thereabouts.

Spugsy

Any idea when the new iPhones will hit UAE?

Victor Meldrew

Hey Spugsy, are you going for the Apple? The iPhone 5 is retailing at a ridiculous 5000 aed on Emirates avenue.

I'm also looking at the Apple 4 32 gb vs Galaxy S2 quandary.

Everything I seem to read points to the S2 being the obvious choice, but the brand name of Apple seems to be (irrationally) drawing me to it.

Which are you going for?

I currently have the Blackberry Torch which I bought for 2,600 aed last October, but am going too sell it to change brand - haven't been too impressed by it. Reviews of the new Blackberrys (touch and Bold) seem to say they are still behind the times. That, with the latest fiasco put me off getting another Blackberry.

ps if you buy iPhone, my daughter might be interested in buying your iPod touch.

Victor Meldrew

I see Emirates Avenue are advertising an iPhone 4S due soon, price to be advised.

Whats new with this one?

scot-ish

its a wee bit faster, and got iCloud, so you can sync to itunes without a cable, otherwise im not too sure on what else it brings.