UAE internet users left in dark as Etisalat web service hit by problems

Etisalat subscribers take to social media as their internet connections are hit by issues, with many websites refusing to load.

Dozens of internet users complained to Etisalat after their internet connection was hit by issues. Delores Johnson / The National

Frustrated internet users in the UAE took to social media to complain to Etisalat after they were unable to load websites.

Problems began shortly before 11am this morning when many websites were hit, unable to be loaded by either desktop computers, laptops or phones using hardline, wifi or 4G connections. Thankfully among the sites spared were social media which allowed users to vent their frustration.

Services of rival du seemed unaffected, with their LTE network able access sites not reachable by Etisalat customers.

Dozens of customers reached out to @Etislat_Care, the company’s twitter account for answers.

ProWebDevco tweeted: “Hey Etisalat, from nearly 20 minutes ago I can only access Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, no other webpage, what’s going on?”

Meanwhile a frustrated @ARahmanMahgoub sent: “Can you read me? Internet is down, and your 101 line is down as well? Shouldn’t we get an update on this?” That was echooed by @omkarudas who said: “Want to tell us what the internet issue is and how long will it take to fix.”

After more than an hour Etisalat finally answered on twitter saying: “Our customers faced some difficulty in the use of Internet in some areas for a period of approximately 20 minutes as a result of a technical problem that has been solved and services have been resumed since. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”