Iphone 4S

1. n0
2. http://www.jarirbookstore.com/html/jari … iphone.asp
2699-3559
3. not that i know of. by the GB is all i saw. last year i used mobily, had a 2gb plan, and minute based talk. they have a 5gb also.

Bizzle wrote:

a) Does that also occur here

Yes & No.

If you are talking about 100 bucks phones like what AT&T or Sprint offers, then No. ALL phones sold here are factory unlocked.

There are package plans from leading telecom companies. For example you can get a 4s for 2,699 SAR (w/o plan) or 2,269/649/0 (plan bundles).

Bizzle wrote:

b) How much does an Iphomne 4S cost here and is there and wheres the best/cheapest place to purchase it

Price of package-less is almost the same everywhere. There are no best price places.

Cheeck out: http://www.mobily.com.sa/portalu/wps/po … rtlet=true

Bizzle wrote:

c) Are contracts available with unlimited data, i'll be spending alot of time whatsapping people abroad.

If you really need unlimited data (though I believe 3GB will be enough), I'd recommend you to go for a pre-paid phone (2,699 SAR) and on your SIM card, subscribe to the unlimited data bundle that will cost you 350 SAR/month.

TLL,
Thanks alot. I'm a bit of a novice so I have no idea how much in reality 3GB is? However, if you think it's more than enough i'll look into this option. Thta said curious to know why you think it wil be more than enough?

Alos in your opinion for service qualiy and coverage which is better STC or Mobily?

Thanks in advance.

3gb is plenty since you cant stream netflix or anything. the real determination is how much you stream things.

I didnt relaly go over 2gb, and i used my phone ALOT.

Very right @Freshlikesushi, it's actually the streaming that makes the big difference. If you aren't a big time streamer and the most of your use is just WhatsApp, 1GB even will suffice. 3GB is pretty safe to go with.

STC is government owned, so always expect the latest & most powered technology in place. The customer service however sucks (what else on earth can you expect from english-unaware government employees?). Mobily customer service is much better though they are notorious for hidden charges in their billing cycles.

The coverage is almost the same.

and how about using skype on it? sorry for so many questions

Voice over Skype doesn't take a lot of bandwidth (in my experience).

i use mobily ONLY becuase i can do everything prepay and pay about the same. i never use alot of talk time since i use skype on my phone so i just pay the monthly data fee and get 100 ryals at a time for talk
plus customer service was way better

and dont worry about too many questions. thats what we are all here for!

cheers. which plan r u on?

i dont remmeber what i had. Im headed back to saudi in june. i was there last year in jeddah.
it was just a pay as you go thing. every month id pay for my data, and minutes were deducted from an amount i paid ahead

That's a Mobily Postpaid 100 plan. 100 minutes of local minutes per month. 500 MB bandwidth.

http://www.mobily.com.sa/portalu/wps/po … rtlet=true

Bizzle wrote:

and how about using skype on it? sorry for so many questions

Skype, face time and other voice over ip calls are horrible  over 3G mobile network. When ever I tried to call my family in Jordan using data plan  it's really bad quality and keep disconnecting
It's better to do skype over high speed WIFI

nah, i used two different things. I paid for 2gb a month flat rate
then i charged it also for minutes for anything over that monthly rate

at the 2gb, it would shut off, and if i wanted to reactivate it, i would pay again, and it would reactivate for the month at a 30day start, and 2more gb.

thye may not have it still. not too sure. one of the small cell stores did the configuration for me. and i was using a jailbroken 3gs (4g was just released and 5,000sar)

Freshlikesushi wrote:

at the 2gb, it would shut off, and if i wanted to reactivate it, i would pay again, and it would reactivate for the month at a 30day start, and 2more gb.

Mobily folks are not that nice mate . My experience in this regard was like (simplified for comprehension):

1- At the start of month pay them say 100 SAR and get 1GB.
2- Say on date 17 you're done with the credit. The internet will stop working.
3- Same day, recharge 100 SAR and your internet will be back. They charge you the rate of 2.5 SAR/MB from now on. The new month does NOT start here.

Of course your 100 SAR recharge will expire in a couple of days on this expensive rate. You'll end up with error 617 (an indirect ambiguous error that actually means: Bandwidth has exceeded).

Don't be taken off, Mobily guys will NEVER agree that they are ripping you off.

4- Recharge in the first week of the next month and that is your MONTH recharge of 1GB.

The error#617 (bandwidth exceeded) pissed me off A LOT. Their customer service didn't know (or probably didn't want to say) that they have no idea about the situation. They always asked me to recharge, recharge and recharge. One fine day, I decided to gave Mobily an ax (a TOTAL boycott). I'm happier with STC; they are rather transparent.

like i said, this may not still be in effect.

But that is the plan that i had, i remmeber becuase everytime i reupped, i had to type in a random code that would cancel my plan, the restart it iwth another code, an then call and enter the code on the card.  the codes were sent through text to a number they gave me.

i wish i remembered exactly what it was.  luckilly i still have my sim card in my n900 so i dont have to buy one when i get there.

if STC is better now, then ill go with them prolly however.

Yep, things might have changed by now.

With STC, I do get a great service. I've installed their app in my iphone for easy service management. ....And I never have to talk to them unless there is a serious issue (God forbid ).

ill prolly have my android hacked Nokia N900 for a little bit until i can pick up a iphone 4. no need for a 4s

Hi,

Ok so I've decided to get the postpaid500 plan (iphone4S 16gb) from Mobily below
http://www.mobily.com.sa/portalu/wps/po … rtlet=true

Before going, can anybody tell me what will be required?
- My Iqama?
- Do I have to hand anymoney over upfront, with the Iphone16GB it says theres no cost for the phone
- Someone also told me that I can only go to Mobily on sat to get this and need to go to their mega branch?

Appreciate any info. Would like to get it today, but being a weekend i dont think as a single male I can? Is this correct?

Thanks
B

Yes, the iqama only.

The weekend must not be a problem. However, I suggest to visit their main branch on Abdullah Road. The number of serving staff and speed/quality of service is better.

There is one thing I doubt about (am not sure though about Mobily): They might have some conditions to meet for the Postpaid-350, Postpaid-500 plans.

For example I know STC offers just PrePaid or Basic plan to the masses. The other plans are offered exclusively to people STC classified as 'elite' customers [In Arabic: Mutamayez]. This classification is based on excellent payment history and huge usage records of GSM service.

So do some calculation homework in case you had to go for Basic or prepaid plans.