Getting a telephone number in Abu Dhabi.

Keeping in touch with friends and family whilst abroad is essential, hence having a phone was a priority for us.

First of all, we found out it was necessary to have a resident ID to be able to apply for any kind of phone line. Once our ID arrived, the process has been very easy and quick!

Lovely city view.

Etisalat and DU are two of the main phone companies in Abu Dhabi and they both have shops and stalls in every shopping centre in the city, so it was very easy to find one near us.

To get a mobile number, we just had to show our resident ID and passport, and fill in a form with all our details.

We were then given the possibility to choose our own phone number amongst the ones they had available, which we thought was a very nice touch, especially because it made it much easier to remember.

The sim card worked perfectly with our UK phones and was active immediately.

When we want to top up our credit, we just go back to any of our chosen shops and buy a code to insert in the phone.

We also wanted a landline and internet in our new flat.
We decided to choose between the E-Life packages by Etisalat and the Home Service packages by DU, which both include phone, internet and TV. There are many options to choose from, from the basic channels to the Western channels upgrade, plus sport packages, movies and any other topic we might want.

To apply for it we had to bring the documents of our new flat and our personal documents to one of the shops in the mall, and once again the whole process was very quick.

Telephone shops can be very busy, especially in the evenings, so we were prepared to queue. In alternative, we could have gone back in the morning, when there is a lot less people around, but we did not mind waiting.

To speed up the process, we were asked for a phone number of someone who lived in our building, preferably on the same floor as us, to make activation easier. Even though it might seem a bit awkward at first, we thought it was a great chance to break the ice and get to know some of our neighbours!

They came around our house in a matter of days, bringing a wireless router, a TV box with 500GB of space to record our favourite shows and a remote. Internet so far has been really fast and we are still exploring all the many TV channels we have.

The Etisalat customer service number is 101.
The DU customer service it is 04-3905555.

To call in the UAE the country code is 00 971, but of course we don’t need it from inside the country!

We were worried that setting up a new line might be hard or time consuming, but the process was incredibly quick, easy and all went smoothly, so we could not be happier!