The UAE telecommunications providers Etisalat and du have announced plans to roll out special offers developed with the support of the Frontline Heroes Office to help frontline professionals nationwide stay connected to family and friends at home and abroad while protecting the nation through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Frontline Heroes Office was established in July through a royal decree mainly to respond to the challenges and priorities of the UAE’s frontline professionals, implement short-term and long-term solutions to directly address those challenges, as well as ensure those who sacrifice and put themselves at risk to protect the people of the UAE are nationally recognized and celebrated, reported state news agency Wam.
Under the new scheme, all frontline professionals included in the Frontline Heroes Office’s official Registry will be eligible to sign up for the new Etisalat and du offers.
The Registry was created to collate data from people on the frontline which was provided directly by entities at the federal and emirate level involved in the pandemic response, including those entities under the umbrella of the National Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NCEMA, and licenced healthcare facilities in every emirate.
It covers the full spectrum of UAE citizens and expatriates who have put themselves on the frontline in service to the country, including healthcare practitioners, police, essential service providers, crisis managers, security and emergency service providers, humanitarian agencies, sterilization personnel and volunteers.
Etisalat and du have both been actively collaborating with government partners to help schools, businesses and residents across the country stay connected from the earliest days of the pandemic.
This included expanding network bandwidth and providing free services to improve access to distance learning, as well as programs to help businesses and their employees more effectively stay productive and safe whilst working from home.
Now the companies are providing special support to UAE frontline heroes such as increased access to international calling and data services for their frontline hero customers.
The Etisalat and du offers are endorsed by the Frontline Heroes Office for providing national support to UAE frontline professionals to help them overcome specific challenges they face while serving the country.
Etisalat said that it understands the value of staying connected to family and friends during this critical period, more importantly when it comes to the emotional health and wellbeing of our frontline heroes.
"Day after day, these heroes of the UAE are selflessly putting their own health and safety at risk to protect us," the company said, adding, it has an obligation to actively contribute, together with the Frontline Heroes Office, to champion and support our frontline professionals during this time.
Similarly, du said it believes in the tremendous efforts that frontline workers were making "to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and to protect us and our loved ones."
As such, the company is committed to be working alongside the Frontline Heroes Office to provide the nation’s heroes with the support they require to continue fulfilling their roles and responsibilities to the best of their ability."