United Arab Emirates eSIM
Data for United Arab Emirates on Etisalat and du, from $8.89. It never expires, tethering is included, and refills land on the line you already have, with nothing new to install.
- Networks
- Etisalat and du
- Typical speed
- 96 Mbps typical, 31 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, standalone and non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans for United Arab Emirates
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $8.89 | $8.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $5.96 | $17.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $5.18 | $25.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $4.19 | $41.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $3.54 | $70.89 |
Every plan works the moment you land. Unused data returns to your wallet when the line closes, and customers get at least 100 MB of free rescue data a month even at zero balance.
What 96 Mbps actually means in United Arab Emirates
Typical download speed on Orbislo in United Arab Emirates: 96 Mbps. That puts United Arab Emirates well above the Middle East median of 72 Mbps.
The tenth percentile is 31 Mbps. That gap between the median and the floor is normal and it is where the frustration lives: the connection is quick most of the time and noticeably slow in the busiest few percent of moments, typically at transport hubs at peak hour.
At these speeds nothing on a phone is limited by the connection. Video calls are comfortable, a laptop can be tethered for a full working day, and large photo backups finish without planning around them.
Which networks you will be on
Orbislo carries traffic in United Arab Emirates on Etisalat and du. Your phone is not tied to one of them. When the network you are attached to congests or drops, the profile moves you to the other, and it happens without a prompt and without you noticing anything except that the connection kept working.
This matters more than the headline speed. Almost every travel eSIM sold today resells a single upstream agreement per country, so when that one network has a bad hour you have a bad hour with it and your only option is to buy a second eSIM from somebody else. A profile with more than one network behind it can make a decision you never see.
5G in United Arab Emirates: yes, standalone and non standalone. Worth knowing that 5G on a travel profile is normal rather than special, and that the tenth percentile above is the number that will decide how the trip feels, not the generation label in the status bar.
What data costs in United Arab Emirates
A 100 MB plan for United Arab Emirates starts at $0.30, which is $0.00 a gigabyte. That is the number to compare between providers, because a headline price attached to a different allowance tells you nothing.
The comparison most providers would rather you did not run is cost per gigabyte actually used. Independent surveys of travel data put the share of purchased data lost to expiry between 20 and 35 percent, because a plan that expires on day thirty deletes what you did not get through. Orbislo data has no expiry date, so the gigabyte you paid for is still there on the next trip. At the same headline price that is 25 to 40 percent more usable data, and in United Arab Emirates it means the effective cost is nearer $0.00 a gigabyte than $0.00.
Because nothing expires, the cheapest way to buy for United Arab Emirates is to buy slightly less than you think you need and top up if you run out. Topping up takes about ten seconds and does not involve installing anything. Buying too much is the expensive mistake everywhere else and merely a neutral one here.
Landing in United Arab Emirates
Install before you fly, on your home wifi. The profile downloads while you still have a connection you trust, then sits dormant until you land in United Arab Emirates and it attaches to Etisalat.
On landing there is one thing to check: data roaming has to be switched on for the Orbislo line. It is off by default on both iOS and Android, and it has nothing to do with roaming charges here, because the plan is prepaid and there is no bill to run up. Turn it on for the Orbislo line and leave it off for your home line, and your home number keeps working for calls and bank codes without costing anything.
One local thing worth knowing before you buy, which we put in the buy flow rather than in the terms: WhatsApp and FaceTime calling is restricted on local networks here. Messaging works normally. Plan around it and we will show you what still works before you fly.
Coverage across United Arab Emirates
The figures above cover United Arab Emirates as a whole, and a national figure hides real variation. We publish separate figures for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, because the difference between a capital and a coastal town is usually larger than the difference between two countries.
Outside the cities, coverage follows the same pattern it does everywhere: the main roads and the tourist corridors are well served, and it thins in the mountains and on the water. No travel eSIM changes that, because it is the same physical network the local population uses. What a multi network profile changes is which of the available towers you get to use.
Getting a local SIM in United Arab Emirates
A visitor buys a local SIM on a passport and may hold at most two lines per operator. When the registration expires the provider has to disconnect the SIM within 48 hours unless valid details are filed, with a warning sent 24 hours before the line goes dead.
What is restricted in United Arab Emirates
- Voice over IP: Voice and video calling over the internet is treated as a regulated activity here, so calls may only be placed through applications the regulator has approved. Third party software such as Skype is not licensed to carry calls here.
- WhatsApp and FaceTime calling: Voice and video calls over the internet are a regulated activity, and licensed providers must block calling apps without approval. The regulator's allowed list includes Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet for meetings, Webex, Slack and BOTIM. WhatsApp and FaceTime are not on it.
- VPN services: Proxies and VPNs that mainly give access to blocked content fall in a prohibited content category that providers must block, and hosting VPN services that let UAE users bypass filtering is not allowed. Companies, institutions and banks may use VPNs to reach their own internal networks.
- Radio and satellite equipment: A licence may be needed to use satellite phones, radio transmitters, listening or recording devices, powerful cameras or binoculars. Advice is available from a UAE embassy before travel.
- Publishing media content: Producing, transmitting or distributing printed, digital, audio or video material counts as media activity that needs the appropriate permit, which the National Media Council handles. Doing it without one can bring imprisonment and a substantial fine.
- Swearing online: Swearing and rude gestures are illegal as obscene acts, including online, and can lead to jail or deportation. Charity and fundraising posts on social media are also heavily regulated.
Worth knowing about United Arab Emirates
- No SIM can be issued or transferred without full identity verification, and the Emirates ID is the identity document the regulator names for residents.
- The regulator warns that someone who places calls through unapproved software is personally liable, and that providers have the right to block that traffic. Its VoIP policy, version 2.0, dates from 30 December 2009.
- Using another person's IP address, or masking one by any other means, to commit a crime or avoid its detection carries temporary imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 to 2 million dirhams under Article 10 of the 2021 cybercrime decree-law.
- An e& visitor line is sold to visitors aged 18 and over and stays valid for as long as the visa issued on arrival, up to a maximum of 90 days. Moving it to a resident prepaid or postpaid line requires an Emirates ID.
- Emergency numbers are split by service: 999 for police, 998 for an ambulance and 997 for fire.
- Visitors register a local SIM on a passport, or on a national ID card if they are citizens of a Gulf Cooperation Council country. Updating or verifying registration details is free of charge.
- On a UAE number, texting BALL to 7726 blocks all promotional messages. Sending the sender name starting with AD followed by B blocks one sender, and only senders whose names start with AD can be blocked this way.
How United Arab Emirates compares across Middle East
- Regional typical speed
- 72 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Etisalat, du
- 5G
- Yes, standalone and non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Qatar, 101 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Kuwait, 86 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 2: Dubai, Abu Dhabi
