Telecommunications company du has launched a mobile phone product aimed at visitors to Dubai. The Visitor Mobile Line service offers a SIM card and a host of services including pay-by-the-second calls, video calls, video mail, mobile TV and mobile broadband. The service is priced at 70 dirhams includes a 20 dirham credit and is available from du shops and authorised dealers.
Dubai International Airport is aiming to become the world’s most user-friendly airport for special needs tourists. Over the next few months the airport will introduce 20 dedicated immigration counters, 3 new car parking areas and a special route through the airport for special needs travellers.
The Dubai Municipality have announced that smoking restrictions will come into effect on May 31, World No Tobacco Day. Under Phase 1, commencing May 31, smoking will be banned in government buildings, while phase 2, beginning on September 16 will see smoking banned in schools, hair salons, offices, health clubs and internet cafes. Shopping malls will be required to have designated smoking areas. Under phase 3, starting November 15, smoking restrictions will be introduced in restaurants and cinemas.
The government of Dubai has approved a major project to extend the Dubai Creek to the Arabian Gulf. The extension will pass through Sheikh Zayed Road, Safa Park, Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Beach Park. There are also plans for a public water transport system to help ease traffic congestion. The project is expected to be complete by 2010.
A new tabloid newspaper was launched today. The weekly XPRESS is owned by Al Nisr Publishing and will be distributed for free throughout Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. According to a press release ‘XPRESS will transform the way that stories are told in the UAE, by using a dramatic and reader-focused style and layout that makes it easy and quick for readers to find what they have to. It uses colour, graphics and illustrations to deliver key facts to readers quickly and easily.’
Dubai Police have a new tool to help them determine whether drugs and medicines brought into the country are legal in Dubai. Officers began using the e-Lab at Dubai International Airport this week. The device is essentially a PDA loaded with a database of drugs, their trade names and legal status. If an officer is unable to identify a drug a picture can be taken and sent to laboratory experts for quick identification. The police are hopeful that this will lead to fewer delays at the airport.
New telecom operator du will launch its mobile telephone service on February 11, ending the monopoly held by Etisalat. The service will be available in 85 percent of populated areas in the United Arab Emirates.
Figures released by the Dubai Statistics Centre reveal that the emirate has an unemployment rate of 2.6%, one of the lowest in the world. The Dubai Labour Force Characteristic Survey 2006 also shows that population has increased by 7% to reach 1,370,714 of which 78% are male and 22% female.
The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has announced the opening of the first of five hundred air-conditioned bus shelters. The shelters, which also include ATMs and vending machines, are intended to boost use of the city’s bus services and reduce traffic congestion. Further measures to curb the problem include the introduction of 1,500 hi-tech buses over the next three years.
Emirates Bank is fitting all its ATMs with Fraudulent Device Inhibitors, the latest fraud-prevention countermeasure for ATMs. Developed by NCR, these make it difficult for criminals to attach foreign devices on or around the card reader.