The Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence took immediate and coordinated action to facilitate measures for Greeks in Gulf countries, due to developments in the wider Middle East region and increased communication needs, it said in a statement.
The aim of the interventions, which are being implemented in cooperation with mobile phone providers, is to ensure uninterrupted communication between citizens in these areas and their families and the competent authorities, by providing free mobile phone services and suspending restrictive measures on their connections. In addition, they are facilitating communication from Greece to these countries with free international calls and SMS.
In this context, COSMOTE TELEKOM, Nova, and Vodafone have activated emergency free service packages for subscribers located in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait. COSMOTE TELEKOM's measures also extend to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Oman, while Vodafone's measures also extend to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
The benefits include free mobile data roaming, free minutes and text messages (SMS), as well as free international calls from Greece to these countries. The measures cover contract and prepaid mobile subscribers. At the same time, any connection blocking procedures for subscribers in these areas have been temporarily suspended to ensure continuous and reliable communication.
Specifically, COSMOTE TELEKOM is providing a free package with 300 minutes of talk time, 300 SMS messages, and 5 GB of data for roaming.
On February 28, Nova activated a free roaming pass for subscribers in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait, allowing them to use their national plan with a daily limit of 500 MB of data, 500 minutes of talk time (incoming and outgoing calls), and 100 SMS messages. In cases where no balance is available, additional free access is provided through special roaming services.
Vodafone will retroactively credit contract subscribers for roaming charges incurred in the above countries. For prepaid subscribers, it provides 500 free minutes and 5 GB of data for the same period. The free minutes cover calls to Greece as well as calls within the country where the subscriber is located.
Subscribers will be informed via text message (SMS) by their providers about the benefits that apply to them, as the countries covered, the activation method, and the volume of services offered vary by company.
"The Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence is closely monitoring developments and remains in constant coordination with providers and relevant ministries, with priority given to supporting Greek citizens and ensuring reliable channels of communication during a period of increased operational needs," the ministry's announcement concludes.