UAE Launches Expat Workers Phone Tariff

A new mobile package has been launched in the United Arab Emirates which has been designed for the country's large expat manual labourers. The new package, called 'alo', which means 'hello' in Arabic, was launched on Monday by the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai and mobile network, du.

The alo brand is designed keeping in mind the needs of the expat labour workforce primarily from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, China who work for the construction companies and live in labour camps, a statement from du said.

In order to communicate with them in their own language, ‘aloÃ' comes with a multilingual user guide in the SIM pack.

General, Mohammed Ahmad Al Marri, Chairman Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai, said, "We appreciate all the support we have received from du as our partners in this pioneering initiative to better fulfill the needs of the labour workforce. We are committed to improving the quality of life of the labour segment in the UAE whose valuable contribution to nation-building we recognise and appreciate. With the launch of alo we have also opened a new line of communication between the labour workforce and our committee and we are here to listen to their feedback. We highly recommend ‘aloÃ' to all the companies who employ such expat labor workers."

Tailored to fit the financial needs of this workforce, du has designed the mobile package to have no high one time or annual fees. There would be no joining fees and renewal fees but the money would be collected in easy monthly installments of Dh 5. An initial credit of Dh 10 has been included to enable them to get started immediately.

The labour committee will keep in touch with them by providing them with labour notifications, changes in labour laws, labour news etc via SMS on their ‘aloÃ' line.

Posted to the site on 13th October 2008