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UAE slashes Net access charges

The United Arab Emirates has slashed Internet access charges from December 1, an official announcement in Abu Dhabi said.

The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, or Etisalat, said Internet dial-up subscribers can now log on for 14 hours for 85 dirhams, about Rs 850, per month.

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Additional usage would be billed at a flat rate of Dh 6 per hour, Etisalat Marketing Manager Mohammed al Fahimi said.

While making the reductions, Etisalat has done away with the slab system of Internet charges and the delineation between peak and off-peak hours.

Under the earlier system, the charges ranged from a minimum of Dh 100 per month for five hours of peak usage to Dh 1,500 for 100 hours.

The rates for Internet ISDN-LAN connections and for dedicated access lines have also been reduced significantly.

"With the new low rates we have now made the Internet more affordable for all levels of computer users in the UAE," Fahimi said.

He said there are some 40,000 Internet subscribers in the UAE today, including about 25,000 dial-up customers.

Fahimi said the reductions are a part of a plan to promote wider use of the Internet by the UAE business community and to position the country as a key service provider in the region.

"On a regional level, our plans to embark on several new initiatives will lead to the UAE becoming a regional and Middle Eastern hub," he said.

"The hub will provide access to regional countries facilitating faster, cost-effective throughput. Being one of the first Internet service providers in the region, we have considerable experience and expertise which enables us to offer consultancy services to other regional and Arab countries," he said.

Ahmed al Hosani, superintendent Internet, Etisalat, said some UAE companies have set up Web sites and the number is expected to treble within a year.

He said a UAE bank is planning to launch online banking by February 1998 and a second bank would go online later in the year.

Apart from the tariff reductions, Etisalat is also offering a 15 per cent discount for educational institutions subscribing to the Internet.

UNI

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