Etisalat and du customers paying the price for unwanted TV

ABU DHABI // Want broadband internet installed in your home? How about a TV package bundled in – whether you want it or not?

Customers say they are being forced to accept landline and TV – sometimes at higher costs – to have the internet connected by Etisalat and du.

Du charges significantly more, sometimes double, for internet and phone only deals.

Frenchman Zabat Nourdine, who moved to Dubai seven years ago, said he had no choice but to sign up for du’s Talk, Surf and Watch package six weeks ago.

“I don’t need their TV services,” Mr Nourdine said. “I barely watch TV and if I do it will be French channels that I get from the satellite dish.”

He said he once had guests staying so he asked for an internet upgrade and was told he could later revert to his old plan.

But when he tried to go back to his Dh320 monthly scheme, a staff member told him he could not without adding TV for an extra Dh60. “They said ‘this is the new business rule. We can’t deviate from it’.”

A du spokesman could not explain why its broadband cost at least Dh70 more than the basic Talk, Surf and Watch plan.

He said internet and phone only plans were available, but “lower speed plans no longer provide the right experience for the majority of customers”.

“While our Talk and Surf plans are still available for customers who request them, we are seeing that customers are increasingly preferring our more advanced plans like Talk, Surf and Watch, which offer more benefits,” the company said.

Mr Nourdine said his complaints went nowhere. “I had the same answer every time. I went through Twitter, Facebook and the phone, and all I had were useless answers.”

Tareq Masarweh, a senior consultant with Ovum, a UK consultancy with offices in the UAE, said bundling was “a very powerful tool for telecoms operators”.

Mr Masarweh said the packages could lead to customers spending more on additional TV services after they had access to a basic package.

“Basic bundling of existing services allows an operator to generate additional revenues from a fixed-services subscriber by offering additional discounted services, and through a selected video-on-demand strategy,” he said. “Consumers benefit from reduced prices.”

American Samantha Neugebauer, 26, said she was forced into paying for television when she tried to sign up for Etisalat’s internet services, eventually locking into a Dh404 monthly contract for phone, internet and television.

While Etisalat’s costs for broadband and phone packages are less than bundled television, internet and phone, many users complain that it is hard to buy.

“When I moved on to Reem Island a year ago I met a representative from Etisalat who insisted I must buy the full television, internet, landline option,” Ms Neugebauer said. “Actually, he insisted this was my only option.”

She said she was told by neighbours that they had fallen for the same “trick”. But others were able to successfully sign up for internet without television.

“It all depended on what representative you talked to initially,” Ms Neugebauer said.

She said she filed a complaint with Etisalat in November.

“I followed up week after week but they always said they were still investigating,” she said. “Finally, in late January I received a random email saying my complaint had been closed. There was no resolution and no response from them.”

An Etisalat spokesman insisted the company offered internet, television and fixed telephone, all on a standalone basis.

“All our customers can subscribe to Etisalat’s standalone broadband service,” he said.

The spokesman said standalone internet cost Dh299 a month plus device charges, while bundled packages started at Dh359.

Two other Reem Island residents said they were told they would have to visit Etisalat’s head offices in Madinat Zayed to sign up for standalone internet, after inquiring at its outlet in Boutik Mall.

Wasif Ahmed, an Indian expat who lives in Al Reef with his wife and two children, said he was also forced into signing up for an internet, phone and television bundle by Etisalat at Dh449 a month when he moved into his home almost a year ago.

“I wanted only landline and internet and this was not an option. I had to take landline, internet and TV, so I am paying for the TV service which I don’t use. This is not fair,” said Mr Ahmed, who has lived in Abu Dhabi for eight years. “I don’t use the TV option at all.”

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Monthly bundle prices

› du - Talk and Surf (Phone and Broadband only)

8mbs: Dh499

16mbps: Dh609

24mbps: Dh829

100mbps: Dh1599

› du - Talk Surf and Watch (Phone, Broadband and Television)

16mbps, 31 channels: Dh380

24mbps, 31 channels: Dh460

100mbps, 31 channels: Dh810

› Etisalat- eLife Double Play (Phone and Broadband)

10mbps: Dh299

20mbps: Dh399

50mbps: Dh599

› eLife - Triple Play (Phone, Broadband and Television)

10mbps, Basic TV: Dh359

20mbps, Basic TV + Sport: Dh499

20mbps, Basic TV + Movies: Dh569

100mbps, Premium TV: Dh999

300mbps, Premium TV: Dh2999

500mbps, Premium TV: Dh5000

All prices are subject to additional installation fees, if applicable.

esamoglou@thenational.ae