Job Discussion Forums

Bindair Dundat · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 1123

My wife made me get a cell phone so she can keep me at her beck and call. It's a triple-band model, which means it's supposed to work anywhere in the world. If I bring it to the UAE or Saudi, can I just buy a little slide-in chip and start dialing away? Where I am now in Europe they sell prepaid chips that can be "recharged" by paying more $ to the phone company. Does it work that way in the ME, or do you have to buy a contract and give them ten passport photos and all of that?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

"My wife made me get a cell phone so she can keep me at her beck and call."

At last someone who is honest about the true function of the mobile phone. I was always amused by my adult students in Jeddah who used the mobile in class, pretending these were important business calls, when in fact it was the missus calling to say that needed a litre of milk and a dozen eggs.

It is much easier now in Saudi than before. Bangladeshi taxidrivers have them ! But I have so far resisted the pressure from Mrs Scot47 to get one. And I must confess I do not know what is actually required here in terms of bureacracy. You can bet your bottom dollar that the State keeps tabs on who has mobiles though.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

What you do is that you go to Riyadh Bank and fill in a form to pay for the mobile chip. You then go to the telephone company exchange and get a number and wait in line and then show the compelted form and the recieipt from the bank and get a chip.

That's the theory. When I applied just after the pay as you go chips started, I found that the number I got to wait in queue would have got me served 145 hours later. Luckily I found another telephone office.

I believe now that they have stopped issuing mobile pay as you go chips because the network was overwhelmed, so what you have to do is avoid all the bureacracy and buy one off an illegal immigrant in the street for an extra SR150. Alterntatively, once you have the residence permit, which normally takes less than a week, you can get a standard mobile connection which you pay by bill every two months (in theory!). This used to be nearly impossible, like getting a fixed line, but is now incredibly easy.

If your significant other is in the UK or US get a land line and internet connection and use Net2Phone. The quality is excellent.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Stephen,

You find the quality of Net2phone excellent?? I have a friend in Kuwait that uses it to call me and the quality is AWFUL!! It's all skippy and echoy (is that a word?) and you end up walking all over each other because of excessive delay. I hate it. It has been this bad consistently.

Perhaps there are many systems and some are better than the others, but I swear my friend said it is Net2phone - but perhaps it isn't.

VS
(Sorry Bindair --- didn't mean to hijack ---)