Dubai eSIM
In Dubai you connect to Etisalat or du, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 96 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Etisalat and du
- Real speed in United Arab Emirates
- 96 Mbps median, 31 Mbps for the slowest tenth962 travellers across United Arab Emirates, rolling 90 days
- 5G
- yes, standalone and non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Dubai
| 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 |
How United Arab Emirates compares across Middle East
- Speed rank
- 2 of 10 destinations we sell in Middle East
- Regional median
- 75 Mbps
- Consistency
- The slowest tenth still reaches 32 percent of the median
- 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
- tenth percentile
- 31 Mbps
- Behind these figures
- 962 travellers, rolling 90 days
Landing at Dubai International Airport (DXB)
- Airport
- DXB / OMDB
- Distance
- 5 km from the centre of Dubai
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalDubai Airports provides free Wi-Fi across DXB terminals.
- SIM on arrival
- SIM counters or vending in the terminaldu operates counters in Terminal 1 Arrivals, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 Arrivals, handing out free tourist SIMs at the immigration counters; e& (Etisalat) also has arrivals counters.
- Also serves
- Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central) (DWC)
Getting into Dubai
- Dubai Metro Red Line (Airport Terminal 3 and Airport Terminal 1 stations) (DXB). Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Airport taxi rank at DXB (DXB)
Underground and on the metro
Dubai Metro runs 2 lines. It opened in 2009. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Dubai
- du gives arriving visitors a free tourist SIM at its counters right by immigration in DXB Terminals 1, 2 and 3.
- The Dubai Metro Red Line has its own stations inside DXB Terminals 1 and 3, but it does not run all night: roughly 05:00 to midnight Monday to Thursday and Saturday, to 01:00 on Friday, and only from 08:00 on Sunday.
- Dubai Metro runs underground through the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere, so signal behaviour changes along a single Red Line journey.
- RTA has rolled out free Wi-Fi across its bus and marine transport stations in Dubai in partnership with e&.
- Etihad Rail's national passenger network reaches Dubai from 30 September 2026, after the introductory Abu Dhabi-Fujairah service opened on 30 June 2026.
Sources for this page
Other cities in United Arab Emirates we cover
- Abu Dhabi
- 115 km from Dubai, nearest airport AUH