By Telecom Lead Team: Mobile major Etisalat has reduced its GCC roaming tariffs
by 26 per cent on outgoing calls when travelling within the GCC countries.

The significant reduction in mobile roaming charge brings Etisalat’s tariffs
down to those of du, the firm’s competitor.

The new rates apply to both prepaid and postpaid customers.
When an Etisalat prepaid or postpaid customer in the GCC makes an outgoing
voice call to the UAE or any other Gulf country, he or she will be charged
Dh2.40 per minute compared to what was previously charged – Dh3 for postpaid
and Dh3.25 for prepaid.

“For example, whilst roaming on Mobily or on any mobile network in Saudi
Arabia, an etisalat customer calling Oman or Bahrain will get charged at a flat
rate of Dh2.40 per minute,” etisalat explained in its statement.

The telecom operator’s decision to decrease its GCC roaming rates is primarily
due to “intense competition with du.

This decrease in tariff would essentially mean that UAE travellers will now
choose an operator for roaming entirely on the basis of quality of service and
coverage rather than pricing, since GCC roaming charges for both operators are
the same now, according to a report in Gulf News.

This move can also be seen as etisalat’s focus on its customer retention
strategy for business customers. It will intensify competition among the
enterprise segment, especially when mobile subscribers in this region undertake
significant intra-region travelling for business purposes.

Similarly, while roaming, all outgoing local calls within the country visited
will now be at Dh1 per minute, compared to the previous Dh1.30 per minute.

The new tariff requires no subscription as it will be applied on default when a
customer travels to any GCC country and makes phone calls using a GCC roaming
partner network.

Etisalat currently has roaming network partnerships with nearly 650 networks
for voice in 190 countries.