Archive for October 20th, 2008

Visitor Mobile Line: Good Idea

Published by Babar Bhatti on October 20, 2008 under Business, Competitive Trends, Emerging Markets Telecom, Mobile Companies, Mobile Phones, Telecommunications

I spotted this while travelling through UAE last week: a special plan for those who are visiting UAE. Offered by DU, the first competitor to Etisalat’s stronghold in UAE. This kind of “visitor mobile phone plan” can make life easy for Pakistanis who live abroad and want the same number everytime they visit. The idea makes sense for many emerging markets as these countries tend to have a large number of expats.

In the absence of a customized plan for visitors from abroad, many people end up getting a prepaid service but prepaid SIMs are deactivated after 3 months of inactivity and the number is gone. The work around is to You to get a postpaid account and suspend/activate the service everytime you leave/enter the country. If there was a MVNO, this is one of the service which they can offer. See below to get an idea of what DU is offering.

Visitor Mobile Line is our prepaid mobile service which has been specifically tailored to suit your needs – whether you’re a tourist, business traveller or employment seeker visiting the UAE.

* Lowest price – pay AED 49 activation fee and get AED 20 recharge card free
* Pay by the Second – pay only for what you use and nothing more
* You can choose to get 15% more credit on every recharge – You have the option to choose ‘more credit’ or ‘more time’ every time you recharge.
* Me&Mine – enjoy attractive rates on all your calls to two international and two national numbers of your choice for a small monthly fee.
* Get more for your money with these incredible national SMS bundles and data bundle
* We will give you two, one- minute out of credit calls so you can always make that emergency call when you’ve run out of credit.
* Flexible – a 90 day validity which is renewable so you can use the same line next time you’re in the UAE.
* Exclusive travel kit – a free tourist map and mini-guide to the UAE plus a handy travel folder.
* My World – Unique portal on every SIM including
the visitors dedicated section ‘Get to know the UAE’ that allows you to
find sites to see, shopping, places and much more.
* The very latest Next Generation Mobile Services such as video calls, video mail, mobile TV & mobile broadband