Happy Birthday @EtisalatUAE

Update

Our Twitter birthday contest finished on April 26th. Thank you to everyone who entered and sent us birthday greetings on twitter. The winners of our fantastic smartphone birthday gifts have been notified. One lucky winner, Abdul M, entered via Facebook. The other winners have been announced on Twitter.

It was a great contest and lots of fun. Now we have a whole year to plan something even better for birthday number 2!


April 11 is our first birthday!

We have been talking with customers on twitter for a whole year so we are celebrating. Click on our interactive birthday card below to join our online treasure hunt. We have Nokia and Samsung smartphones for our lucky winners.

It’s our followers who have made @EtisalatUAE a success so we are inviting all of you to enter our birthday contest and celebrate with us. Even though it's our birthday we’re giving the presents. The Nokia and Samsung smartphones are perfect for MyPlan and great for social networks. They all have outstanding cameras and integrated social networking so it's really easy to share your photos on Facebook.

Birthday treasure hunt contest

We’ve added all our Twitter followers to our birthday card. We now have over 8000 followers so you will need to refresh the page to see everyone. To enter the contest find the special birthday page hidden among the follower profiles that make up our big birthday ‘1’. When you find the birthday page enter your Facebook profile address or Twitter name and click on the button if you would like to wish us ‘Happy Birthday’ on Twitter or Facebook.

Talk to your loved ones back home for longer

Talk for 5 minutes on an international call and the next 5 minutes are free

If your loved ones are overseas you will love our new offer 5 for 5. For every 5 minutes you talk to someone overseas we will give you an extra 5 minutes free call time whilst on the same call. So now you can speak to the precious people in your life for longer.

You pay for the first 5 minutes of each call then we will pay for the next 5 minutes. If you talk for another 5 minutes, we pay for the next 5 minutes and so on until you hang up. It is really simple. Talk for 20 minutes and you will only pay for 10, but you can keep chatting for as long as you like. For every 5 minutes we will pay the next 5 minutes on the same call.

5 for 5 is available for both prepaid and postpaid accounts. Simply send an SMS saying F5 to 1010 or dial *141*1# to subscribe.

For more details and terms and conditions visit www.etisalat.ae/latestoffers.

5 for 5 will be available until June the 23rd so make the most of those free minutes while it lasts.

Double data for two months

Make the most of internet on the move with our mobile broadband 1GB, 5GB and 10GB options, For the next two months you will get double data.

From now until April 20th everyone with 1GB, 5GB and 10GB mobile broadband packages will automatically receive double data at no extra cost. Perhaps you already received an SMS message? If you need more information you can call 101 or talk to us on twitter. Double Data is available on both prepaid and postpaid accounts.

If you have been thinking about our 3.5G mobile data packages for your laptop this is the best possible time to subscribe. Sign up any time before April the 20th to get double data for your first 2 months.

So what will you do with twice as much mobile data? Where will you work now that you don't have to stay home or in the office? You can check email, upload and download content, share videos and photos, chat or visit your favourite websites from wherever you are. No need to hunt for Wifi or a router. Take your lap top with you - work, play and keep in touch from wherever you happen to be.

Our USB Modems have also come down in price in time for our Double Data offer. The popular 21.6Mps HSPA 3G router and wireless modem is now only AED350. USB modems are available at all our business centres and outlets. If you already have a wireless modem you can also subscribe to our mobile broadband packages by phoning 125 or by SMS to 1010.

Full details, and terms and conditions for our mobile broadband packages are available at etisalat.ae. To subscribe visit any of our business centres or outlets, phone 125 and follow the voice prompts or send an SMS message to 1010.

• R1GB to 1010 to subscribe to our 1GB package and receive 2GB for two months
• R5GB to 1010 to subscribe to our 5GB package and receive 10GB for two months
• R10GB to 1010 to subscribe to our 10GB package and receive 20GB for two months

This offer qualifies for the ‘University Data’ discount as well. Students with their data packages linked to their university ID cards will also receive double data for the next two months at discounted university data rates. Combining the two offers means a student can use 20GB for only AED295 per month during the offer period. Outstanding value!

Questions? Talk to us on twitter @EtisalatUAE.

Up to AED250 instant free credit to use anytime on Wasel

Free credit offer every time you recharge your Wasel account has been extended!!

This offer has been so popular, we have decided to extend it until further notice. This offer gives you up to AED250 free credit each time you recharge your Wasel prepaid account. Your free credit can be used for international and local calls or SMS without any subscription fee. Subscribe to the offer by SMS and receive your free credit instantly on your next recharge.

When your balance reaches AED3 you will receive a message to tell you that you are using your free credit. It is valid for up to 50 days.

You can check your free credit anytime using *121*3#

How to get this offer?
Simply SMS RW to 1010 or dial *140*1# from your mobile handset. Once you receive the confirmation your next recharge will receive the free credit.

Remember there are some restrictions with credit transfers once you sign up to this offer.

Full details with terms and conditions are here on the etisalat.ae website.

Etisalat Commences Region’s First and Widest LTE Network Rollout in the UAE, signs deal with Alcatel-Lucent

Delivering its commitment to offer the most advanced Internet services to its customers, Etisalat today inked an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) for a planned deployment of the Middle East’s first and widest Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the UAE. Using Alcatel-Lucent’s market-leading end-to-end solution, Etisalat is deploying the first commercial LTE (also known as 4G) network in the Middle East.

On the occasion, Nasser bin Obood, Acting CEO Etisalat UAE commented: “As the region’s leading-edge telecom service provider, this is a significant milestone for our corporation and we are proud to be the Middle East’s first and widest LTE network, thereby fulfilling our promise to continuously deliver superlative communication experiences to our customers every step of the way.”

“Over the last year we’ve witnessed a 200% growth in data roaming traffic. Due to the smartphone boom in the UAE, as is globally, our customers continue to crave for higher speeds and better connectivity.There is an exploding demand for new technologies and large bandwidth to support and enable the surging data traffic”, said Marwan Zawaydeh, Chief Technology & information Officer, Etisalat.

“We are confident that this advanced next-generation network from Alcatel-Lucent will meet our customers’ needs for innovative mobile broadband services.” LTE can accommodate multimedia applications such as video conferencing, high definition content transmission and high speed video downloads from social networks, giving Etisalat’s customers unbeatable mobile broadband.

“This is a crucial step towards the adoption of LTE in the Middle East. Alcatel-Lucent’s technical leadership and transformation expertise will help Etisalat unleash LTE’s full business potential and deliver a mobile broadband experience far beyond anything that has been seen before in the region”, said Amr El Leithy, Head of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Africa and Middle East. “This agreement expands our long standing relationship with Etisalat and is further evidence of the trust they have in our company across multiple technologies and our ability and support the next generation mobile network.”

Etisalat & Huawei Sign Agreement to deliver the Middle East’s First LTE network

Etisalat, Middle East and Africa’s leading telecom operator, and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. ("Huawei"), today announced the signing of a commercial LTE contract to commence deployment of region’s widest LTE network in the UAE.

Mr. Nasser bin Obood Acting/CEO Etisalat UAE , and Mr Yi Xiang, President for Huawei Middle East witnessed the signing ceremony at the Etisalat-Huawei Summit 2011 in Barcelona, Spain.The advanced LTE (also known as 4G) technology has already been tested and deployed on the Etisalat network and enables the existing network to reach a download speed of 173 Mbps. LTE can accommodate multimedia applications such as video conferencing, high definition content transmission, high speed video downloads and social networks, giving Etisalat’s customers unbeatable mobile broadband.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr.Nasser bin Obood ,A/CEO Etisalat, said: “Etisalat has established a reputation of a telecom service provider that is continuously innovating and identifying new ways for providing customers an unparalleled telecommunication experience, touching every sphere of their lives. Maintaining our leadership in the wireless broadband market, we are proud to be the Middle East’s first and widest LTE network in the UAE.”

Mr. Marwan Zawaydeh, Chief Technology & information Officer, at Etisalat, commented: “In line with Etisalat’s commitment to elevate our customers’ broadband experience in the UAE, we are pleased to have selected Huawei as the strategic partner to build the new nationwide LTE network. The advanced technology will deliver a better surfing experience, higher resolution on streamed mobile content and improved interactivity along with other wireless applications which require high bandwidth requirements.”

“Etisalat is our key strategic partner and it is our honor to continuously support and deliver in line with their vision and objectives. Since 2003, Etisalat and Huawei have worked together to accomplish Etisalat’s vision of enriching people’s lives with superior communication services,” said

Mr Yi Xiang, President for Huawei Middle East. “With our advanced SingleRAN LTE based solutions, Huawei is dedicated to partner with Etisalat in its endeavor to introduce innovative services in the UAE and international markets in which it operates.”

Don't miss the ICC Cricket World Cup on eLife Triple Play

The first game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is only 4 days away. The opening ceremonies will be on Thursday February 18 and that all-important first game between India and Bangladesh starts at 12:30 on Saturday. The tournament is jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and all 49 one-day games are being shown live on Cricone channel #353 so e-Pehla and e-Firstnet subscribers can watch all the games live at no extra cost.

We have a lot of cricket to look forward to. The final game will be played in Mumbai on April the second. Between now and then we have fourteen national teams to follow. South Africa vs. West Indies and Australia vs New Zealand are the matches to look forward to over the weekend of February 24/25 and then Pakistan v Sri Lanka and England vs. India on February 26 and 27 - and that's just the first 10 days. You can find the full match schedule here on the ICC site.

Do you need to upgrade or renew your e-vision subscription to watch the cricket? We have a great deal for you. If you subscribe or upgrade to e-Pehla or e-Firstnet you get 2 months free on a six month subscription or four months free when you subscribe for a year. Find full details of all our channel packages here. Call 101 or 800777666 to subscribe or upgrade now. No need to miss a single day of this year's ICC World Cup Cricket 2011 action.