UAE SIM cards and home internet, explained

Getting a phone number and a home internet connection are two of the first practical jobs for anyone moving to the UAE. Both are straightforward once you know what paperwork is involved, but the rules around identity checks catch a lot of new arrivals off guard.

This guide covers the two licensed operators, du and e& (formerly Etisalat), what they ask for, and where the picture is different for a short-term visitor versus a resident.

Who are the operators

The UAE has two licensed telecom operators: du and e& (rebranded from Etisalat). Between them they cover mobile, home internet and TV across the country. There is no third option for a UAE SIM or a fixed home line, so any decision is really a choice between these two.

The sector is regulated by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), which sets the rules both operators have to follow, including how SIM cards are registered.

The Emirates ID rule

TDRA runs an initiative it calls "Mobile Subscriber Registration Requirements," published on its site under the page "Registration for Mobile Consumers." Its own page states that licensed telecom providers must register subscriber data accurately, using proper documentation such as the Emirates ID, and that issuing or transferring a SIM without fully confirming the subscriber's identity is prohibited, according to TDRA.

In practice, this means that if you want an ongoing mobile line in the UAE, the SIM will be linked to your Emirates ID. e&'s own customer registration page sets out a documents table for different categories of registrant. A UAE national or UAE resident needs an original, valid Emirates ID. A GCC national can use an Emirates ID, GCC ID or passport. Government and business entities register under their own documentation, according to e&.

e& also states that once you register one account, the registration status updates across all accounts under your name, so you do not need to repeat the process for each line.

Getting a SIM before you have an Emirates ID

New arrivals usually do not have an Emirates ID on day one. Both operators offer an interim option aimed at visitors and recent arrivals that does not require one.

e&'s Visitor Line is described on its own site as a prepaid pack exclusively for visitors to the UAE. According to e&, it is sold in several validity tiers, from 24 hours up to 28 days, can be repurchased multiple times at the same price, and the total time you can use it is capped at 90 days, tracking your visa on arrival. e& says you can get the line by visiting an Etisalat outlet, business centre or partner with a valid passport and visa, and that you can later migrate it to a standard prepaid or postpaid line by presenting your new Emirates ID once you have one, to meet the TDRA registration rules.

du runs an equivalent Tourist SIM and Tourist eSIM, sold in bundles at different validities (du's own site shows 7, 14 and 28-day options), aimed at the same audience.

du also publishes its own documents-by-category breakdown for a standard prepaid line, similar in structure to e&'s: a UAE national needs a valid Emirates ID, a GCC national can use a valid passport, Emirates ID or GCC ID, an expatriate needs a valid Emirates ID, and a tourist can buy with a tourist, employment or transit visa, according to du.

Prepaid versus postpaid

Once you have an Emirates ID, the choice between prepaid and postpaid is mostly about convenience and whether you want a monthly bill. Both operators sell both formats. Current plans and prices, including data allowances and included minutes, are on each operator's website: du's prepaid pages and e&'s prepaid and postpaid pages. These change often enough, with limited-time offers layered on top of standard plans, that it is not useful to repeat specific figures here, since they will likely be out of date quickly.

Home internet

Home broadband works differently from mobile. Both operators ask for an Emirates ID before they will connect a line, but what else they ask for, including whether a specific proof of address is required, differs between them, as set out below.

du's home internet checkout page lists two documents you need before you check out: a valid Emirates ID (photographed front and back) and proof of residency, either a tenancy contract or a utility bill, according to du. This is the same pairing of documents, Emirates ID and proof of address, that comes up when renting a home or opening a bank account in the UAE.

du also offers two structurally different kinds of home connection: a fixed-line installation bundling internet and TV, or an internet-only option using a SIM card and wireless router with no fixed-line installation, according to du's own site. This second option is worth knowing about if you are in short-term or temporary accommodation and do not want an engineer visit.

e& offers an equivalent fibre home internet and TV service (eLife) and its own SIM-based home wireless option (Home Wireless), which, like du's internet-only product, works through a SIM card in a router rather than a fixed-line installation, according to e&'s own site. e&'s "What You Need to Subscribe" page, as previously checked, describes an eLife package needing an original Emirates ID, UAE residency, and the subscriber being above 21 years old; a fresh re-check this round reached a different, more general e& documents page instead, listing an Emirates ID plus one supporting document (such as a salary certificate, bank statement, utility bill or tenancy contract), so the specific residency-and-age-21 combination could not be reproduced against a live page this round. That page does not spell out a specific proof-of-address document the way du's checkout flow does, so it is not clear from this source whether e& separately asks for a tenancy contract or utility bill at the point of sale. e&'s Home Wireless page does not itself publish a documents list either, so its exact registration requirements are unconfirmed from a primary source.

What this means in practice

For most new arrivals, the realistic sequence looks like this: get a visitor or tourist SIM to stay connected on arrival, complete your Emirates ID and residency paperwork (often alongside opening a personal bank account), then convert to a standard prepaid or postpaid mobile line and set up home internet once you have a fixed address and your Emirates ID in hand.

TDRA's registration initiative is specifically a mobile-subscriber policy, so it is the regulatory basis for the SIM requirement, not for home internet: because it is not something either operator can waive, there is no way around providing valid ID for an ongoing mobile line. du and e& each set their own identity and address requirements for home internet, described above, rather than those requirements coming from the same TDRA mobile-registration policy. The short-term visitor products exist precisely to bridge the gap before you have an Emirates ID for a mobile line.