RIYADH, 20 August 2007 — Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has replaced its long-running prepaid packages — Anees and Wafeer — with 7ala to offer more value to its customers, the company said yesterday. Customers subscribed to Anees and Wafeer can migrate to 7ala (which means ‘sweet’ in Arabic) at no extra charge or stay subscribed to their old packages. Once they migrate, they will enjoy the same competitive international calling rates and special discount rate on their favorite international number. 7ala subscribers can call any national destination without having to worry about how much that call will cost, as the new package has a flat-rate cost per minute of 55 halala per minute. Calls made to other Mobily subscribers, fixed-line numbers or subscribers on other Mobily networks will all be charged the same, regardless of when they are made. SMS text messages to Mobily subscribers and subscribers on other mobile networks will be charged SR0.25 for local messages, and SR0.50 for messages sent abroad. Multimedia MMS messages sent to Mobily subscribers or users on other national mobile networks will continue to be charged at SR0.40 per 50 kilobyte message and SR0.75 for MMS messages sent abroad. Anees and Wafeer customers wishing to switch over to 7ala can do so by dialing *1100# or visiting Mobily’s e-portal (www.mobily.com.sa).

Oman Air Hires Three Airbuses

Arif Ali, Arab News

MUSCAT — Oman Air, the Sultanate’s national carrier busy spreading its wings, has signed a deal meant to to hire three Airbuses for direct flights to Europe and the Middle East in November, an Arabic daily reported here yesterday. Under the deal, Oman Air will receive Airbus A330 and A310. The A330 ,with a capacity for 270 passengers, would fly to European destinations, particularly London, while the A310 would be concentrating on the Middle East and the Far Eastern sectors.

Samsung Unveils Slimmest Phone

Arab News

DUBAI — Samsung Gulf Electronics unveiled yesterday its new mobile phone; Samsung U700 a highly anticipated world’s slimmest HSDPA slider style phone. It has a mirror-like coating surrounding the 2.2-inch LCD screen. The screen displays 262,000 colors with a resolution of 240x320 pixels. The U700 Ultra Edition has been designed by Samsung to provide the user with an attractive slider phone.