Etisalat offers free data to customers as it celebrates 50th anniversary

UAE telecom operator Etisalat is celebrating its 50th anniversary by offering free mobile data to its customers.

The company has announced that users will receive free data based on the number of years they have been with the operator. The anniversary offers are available for a limited period.

Customers Get 1GB Free Data for Every Year

Regular Etisalat customers will receive 1GB of free data for every year they have been subscribed to the company.

Customers on the Emirati plan will receive an even larger benefit, with 10GB of free data for every year they have been an Etisalat subscriber.

The free data will remain valid for seven days and is available until October 13.

Etisalat Marks 50 Years in the UAE

Etisalat was founded in 1976 as Emirates Telecommunications Corporation and this year marks its 50th year of operations.

It was the UAE’s first telecom operator and began as a joint venture just five years after the formation of the country.

The company rebranded as e& in 2022, but has announced plans to return to its original Etisalat name moving forward.

More Anniversary Offers for Customers

The free data is one of several promotions being introduced as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations.

Customers can also benefit from:

Up to 90 per cent off selected devices
Up to five times the data for postpaid users
More than 10 anniversary-special packages
Special one-time data offers

One of the offers includes a 10GB data package, which provides 50GB of data as a special one-time benefit. Priced at Dh200, the package is valid for 30 days.
Selected roaming packages are also part of the anniversary promotions.

The operator’s popular weekly roaming combo is offering 5GB of data instead of the usual 2.5GB, along with 500 roaming minutes.

Customers must begin using the package on or before October 9 to receive the additional benefits. From October 10, newly purchased packages will return to their regular data allowance.

Customers who purchase the offer will also receive discount vouchers from the operator’s travel partners through the Smiles app, with the vouchers valid for six months.

Etisalat’s Telecom Legacy in the UAE

Etisalat has played a major role in the development of the UAE’s telecommunications sector.

The company brought the internet to the UAE in 1995, marking the first such service in the region. It later introduced 3G and MMS services in 2003.

Over the years, Etisalat also expanded internationally by acquiring stakes in telecom companies across the Middle East, Asia and Central Europe.

The 50th-anniversary offers mark another milestone for the telecom operator as it celebrates five decades of connecting customers in the UAE and beyond.