Lagos Nigeria; October 21, 2009: Zain Nigeria customers, who are traveling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this year’s Holy pilgrimage in Mecca, will be able to keep in touch with friends and family members at very affordable rates, using their regular Zain lines. 

Unlike the usual roaming service where customers are billed for receiving calls, under this special package, Zain customers in Saudi Arabia will not be charged for receiving calls and they will have the rare opportunity to make local calls in Saudi Arabia at local rates just as they will be charged normal rates for sending SMS (Short Message Service). Also, the tariff for calls from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria has been heavily discounted.

This exciting offer is made possible by the Zain’s revolutionary package, One Network, the world’s first borderless mobile service enabling customers when abroad to receive calls and text messages without roaming charges and to make voice and data calls at local rates throughout 24  countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Speaking on the offer, Zain Nigeria’s Marketing Director, Mostafa Younes said several Nigerians traveling to Saudi Arabia will be able to stay in touch with friends, business associates and family members without going through the rigours of applying for roaming activation.

According to Younes, “with the One Network service, our customers do not need to change their SIM card or purchase another line when they travel to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage. They will be able to make and receive calls; send and receive SMS and browse the internet at local Saudi rates and recharge with local Zain recharge cards available widely in Saudi Arabia.

“We are happy that our customers can stay in touch with their family, friends and business associates in several places across the globe including Saudi Arabia. Customers do not have to make any deposit with the company before they can use the service. Indeed, access to the service is hassle-free as the customer does not have to pay registration fees, complete registration forms or have their SIM card specially provisioned before access to the service can be granted.”

Commenting further on the features of the offer, the Marketing Director said: “The service is unique in several ways. It allows all customers the access to use their local numbers while traveling out of Nigeria. It also offers customers the opportunity to be connected to the Zain Network while abroad without any hassle.”

 On how the service works, Younes  explained that on arriving Saudi Arabia, a Zain Nigeria customer is expected to switch on his phone, wait for phone to search available Networks and the Zain Saudi Arabia Network will appear as Zain SA or KSA 04 or 420 04. Customers, at this point, are expected to select the network and start making and receiving calls.

He further hinted that aside the automatic selection of Zain Network in Saudi Arabia, customers can actually perform a manual selection. To do this, a Zain user will need to go to settings; select the Phone option, choose the Network Option, select Choose Manual and wait for phone to search available Networks and  Zain Saudi Arabia will appear as Zain SA or KSA 04 or 420 04.

On tariff, he explained that customers will not be charged for incoming calls, hinting that local calls will be billed at N21.85k while SMS (local) will be charged at N9.93k and SMS (International) will cost N19.87K. Calls to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia will cost only N178.79k which is 50% lower than the prevailing call rates to Nigeria.

Customers can recharge or top up their lines before traveling to Saudi Arabia or refill their lines while in Saudi Arabia, with Zain Saudi recharge cards.

To recharge using Zain Saudi Arabia recharge cards, customers are required to dial 138*, the recharge Pin and press send while the normal *126* recharge pin # will be used when loading a Zain Nigeria recharge card.