iphone plan cost comparison

[loofah]

Hi All

I'm moving out to UAE soon and I'm trying without much success to get a clear comparison of plans and prices between Etisaladt and Du (or anyone else in the picture??) for getting and using an iPhone on my arrival - and it is v e r y confusing. Could do without this headache as well as all the other stuff to sort out!!

Is there a comparison set out anywhere between Etisalat and Du along the following lines..

1) data plan (including buying an iphone) from Etisalat or Du and
2) getting a SIM only from Etisalat or Du for an unlocked iphone:

- monthly cost for rental, calls, data, sms, and minimum contract length.

Also what is the 12m "unlimited" data, offered by who, and what happens after the 12m is up?

In terms of my personal data use, in the 5 days I have been watching it I have sent @20mb and received @100mb = @12mb sent and @600mb /month

Thanks very much for your help, all.

[michl]

... for getting and using an iPhone on my arrival ...

You can find many answers by searching these forums... However the problem is that the iPhone has been out of stock in UAE for a long time.

Sorry to say but you're not going to get one "on arrival". I arrived last August and I still haven't seen any iPhone anywhere (save on the grey market, and even those have become a rarity...)

[loofah]

You can find many answers by searching these forums... However the problem is that the iPhone has been out of stock in UAE for a long time.

Sorry to say but you're not going to get one "on arrival". I arrived last August and I still haven't seen any iPhone anywhere (save on the grey market, and even those have become a rarity...)

What are my options if I have an unlocked iPhone?
My carrier o2 here in the uk with whom have an iPhone have just started offering a free unlock service, so I am takin advantage of this. Therefore I will arrive with a factory unlocked iPhone.
Thanks

[iaindxb]

What are my options if I have an unlocked iPhone?
My carrier o2 here in the uk with whom have an iPhone have just started offering a free unlock service, so I am takin advantage of this. Therefore I will arrive with a factory unlocked iPhone.
Thanks

You can buy a sim from either du or Etis and get a standard data plan.

[loofah]

That's good news! Any idea of costs etc? Their websites are pretty poor....
Thanks again

[MohamadAkkad]

That's good news! Any idea of costs etc? Their websites are pretty poor....
Thanks again

Du 2GB/month will cost you AED 200, Etisalat 1GB/month will cost you AED 195. Got the idea?

[Empgamer]

Du: Elite Plan du

Etislat: iPhone 3GS

Du I believe will sell you an Elite Plan without the phone or you may be able to get a PAYG iPhone SIM for 100 pm giving 1 GB of data and 100 AED worth of calls/SMS.

Etisalat will not let you have a specific 3GS plan without the phone I believe but the prices show the comparison with Du. As has been said, Etisalat data only (1GB) is 195 AED pm.

[michl]

According to previous posts on EmiratesMac, those iPhone 3GS plans are not available to customers who already own an iPhone (from overseas, local grey market, second hand, etc.)

Hence I believe the correct page is that of the 3.5G Data Packages. Scroll down to "Charges" and you'll see the options.

Cheapest Mobile Broadband plan is indeed 195 AED per month for 1GB max, as was mentioned. Then it's 295 AED for 5GB and 395 AED for 10GB.

However, given that for "normal usage" 100MB seems to be about sufficient, I would personally consider the Mobile Internet plans, which cost 95 AED for 100MB precisely, or even a mere 25 AED for 10MB only.

I'm not sure why those are never mentioned in the forums. Sure it's slower - as in 1.8Mbps vs. 7.2Mbps d/l speed, according to the same page - but... Anyone with experience of Mobile Internet can comment?

It all depends on your usage, obviously. To me an iPhone is all my previous gadgets combined into one - iPod Touch, mobile phone, e-Book reader, camera (in order of importance). But I don't care much about reading mail on the move, and certainly not surfing the web on that small screen...