Playing on Price to Entice New iPhone Users

Posted in iPhone News by admin. Published October 25th, 2009

Playing on Price to Entice New iPhone Users

Smartphone lovers will get Apple’s most powerful iPhone in the UAE on Tuesday when both the telecom operators in the country launch the latest version of the device.

Etisalat, on Saturday, said that consumers can buy the 32GB iPhone 3GS for Dh2,799 and pay Dh2,399 for the 16GB model, but it did not release the price for the data packages. Earlier, du, the UAE’s second telecom carrier, announced four one-year free data packages for the same models, but it has not released handset prices.

According to a Dubai-based Shufflegazine, a magazine devoted to Apple products, du is offering the 32GB version for Dh2,869 and Dh2,459 for 16GB. The price comparison shows that while etisalat subscribers would be saving Dh60 to Dh70 on the device, the true value for customers can only be determined after it releases the details of the data packages. Etisalat is expected to announce the price for data download on Sunday after the approval from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), a source told Khaleej Times.

Separately, people in the UAE would be able to watch their favourite television programmes live on their smartphones next year as the TRA agreed to grant the mobile TV broadcasting services licence to Emirates Mobile Television Corporation — a consortium comprising etisalat, du, Abu Dhabi Media Company, Dubai Media Incorporated, MBC and Emirates Communications and Technologies Company — a subsidiary of TECOM Investment. The consortium paid Dh17 million for a 10-year licence. The TRA has also granted 5-year exclusivity for the consortium till the end of 2014.

[Thanks: http://www.khaleejtimes.com]