empty banner ad

Will Etisalat allow users to upgrade to iPhone 3GS?

Venkatesh Sridhar | Jun 09, 2009 | Comments View Comments

iphone3gs_3up1We all know the gorgeous spanking new iPhone 3GS is going to be out soon. Though, we have no word on when it will be available in the Middle East. There is already widespread discontent spreading amongst US Bloggers due to AT&T’s policy of not upgrading those who own an iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS. Also, lack of support for Tethering and MMS for AT&T users is a concern for the same.

I am sure Etisalat will support MMS and most probably even Tethering, but the issue becomes for those who bought the iPhone 3G very recently, will Etisalat do an upgrade? Anyway it’s worth noting that the iPhone wasn’t introduced a long time back and there a lot many who bought it then and in less than six months with the economy in the shape that it is in, is difficult to justify the purchase of a new iPhone 3GS.

Will Etisalat ask you to pay X AED and then replace your 3G with the 3GS and let you continue your existing plan or will they say you would have to pay a penalty or restocking fee or whatever and then enter into a new plan?

We’ll have to wait and watch to find out what Etisalat will come up with. I hope it is sensible and commercially viable for both Etisalat and for us, the consumers. Will Etisalat please us or disappoint us? What do you think?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Related posts:

  1. Etisalat enables iPhone tethering
  2. iPhone 3GS: Upgrade or not?
  3. No Etisalat iPhone Plan for Gray Market iPhones, Prepaid in “Near Future”
  4. Geeky Girl: Apple Deserves To Know How Bad It Is With iPhone And Etisalat
  5. If both du and etisalat have iPhone, will it change much?

Filed Under: Blog

About the Author: A guy who has been fascinated by Apple not just because of its technology, but because of the unique business practices that are as innovative as its products.

  • Kyle
    But is the 3GS really any better than the 3G? Although I would like to take advantage of any price reduction that occurs once the 3GS is released. Anyone know when it may be released in the UAE?
  • Kyle, read our review in the upcoming August issue but in brief: faster, better camera that can record video, compass, and more. Best guess currently seem to be August 7 (discussed on emiratesmac.com).
  • from what I notice with the attitude of Mobily in Saudi Arabia, don't expect improvements.

    Do you know that I called mobily and asked about tethering (I had to explain what it is first) then the guy told me to install badnet ... his pronunciation was horrible!
    he meant pdanet which is a jailbreak app!!!!
  • That's funny. Apparently Etisalat people tell customers that their iPhone 3G is carrier locked when it's unlocked ;-) And I don't expect much improvement. There will be a 3GS out soon, probably a bit more expensive than the 3G was and no way for customers to "jump" from 3G to 3GS other than to pay for canceling the 3G plan (with penalties) and signing up for new 3GS plan.
  • Anj
    It was very disappointing that by the time Etisalat got around to launching the 3g Iphone, most people had already bought an unlocked 3g Iphone from some other country... Hopefully they will realize their mistake this time around, and launch it soon, so us 2g Iphone users (yess, we do still exist).. can FInally get the 3gs Iphone!!!
  • cB
    and the last time etisalat pleased anyone was.....?
  • I however think that Etisalat will disappoint us and unlike what Yasser hopes for, there won't be a refund for existing customers because it will open a Pandora's box and too much loss in revenue.
  • They better, same goes to Mobily :>
  • Phil Shiller's slide showed August 9th and a couple of countries. United Arab Emirates was down there to the right, second last if I recall correctly. Given Etisalat's teething problem with the iPhone 3G launch this date could be anything.

    And the 3G to 3GS upgrade ain't gonna happen. What we should be praying is that they launch 3GS here at a good price and if the price of 3G is reduced, customers should get a refund of the money they overpaid, that'd be a good move to have customers use the device in peace.

    Anyhoo, I didn't buy the 3G when they launched it here, it was too old for me to grab and over the 2G offered some advantages but nothing that I couldn't hold on to the 2G beauty.

    3GS is worth the buy! August 9th, to far off!!!!!!!
blog comments powered by Disqus