MAKKAH – Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) announced that it has launched free WiFi service in the holy sites in Makkah to enable pilgrims to access the Internet during this year’s Haj season.
The free service will be available to pilgrims, journalists and the public as part of Mobily’s efforts to provide high quality telecom services and keep pilgrims connected with their relatives and friends.
Mobily, through its data arm Bayanat Al-Oula, allows anyone with a laptop, PC and even WiFi enabled mobile phone to connect wirelessly to the Internet without charge.
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah and Chairman of the Central Haj Committee, was briefed on the service during his inspection tour of the holy sites in Makkah.
Prince Khaled watched a live demonstration of the way to register for the service, which was presented by a Mobily team in Mina.
Mobily’s CEO Khalid Al-Kaf said that the free WiFi service covers all the holy sites including Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah.
“All that users need to do is to search for the Mobily network. After free registration through the mobile number of the user, the connection sets itself up automatically, bringing mobile Internet connectivity to pilgrims, officials, journalists or any member of the public in the holy sites, who needs access to the Internet,” Al-Kaf said. – SG