You’re not alone! Etisalat by e&, the largest telecom in the UAE, just removed all BeIN channels from its network starting immediately.
Why did this happen?
According to a company statement, it’s for commercial reasons, as licensing talks apparently broke down between the two companies and no deal was in place at the start of the month, June 1.
“Etisalat by e& informs its valued customers that it will discontinue beIN supplied channels due to commercial reasons, effective June 1, 2023,” said a statement from the company overnight.
Read more here.
Update: BeIn has provided a statement.
Will you get a refund if you’ve paid for beIN?
So, since this is a product that users have paid for, the question is obvious–will we still get charged?
No, and if it was part of a bundle, you’ll get a discount on every charge starting from today totally AED 184.
The Ultimate Package on etisalat by e&, which has channels for sports, entertainment, music as well as dedicated movie channels, is priced at AED 200 a month, and will likely be refunded entirely.
“Customers with eLife packages where beIN content was previously bundled will now receive an automatic and ongoing monthly discount of AED 184 on their bill for the period starting from June 1 onwards,” said Etisalat.
“Customers may change, downgrade or cease the affected eLife packages without penalty prior to September 30, 2023,” the statement continued.
“For customers subscribed to beIN as an add-on to their eLife service, the recurring add-on fees for the service will no longer be charged starting from 1st June 2023 and any exit charges for the beIN add-on will be waived,” they said.
“Business customers will be contacted directly. Customers who wish to continue accessing content can do so directly through their official channels.”
Refunds should happen automatically.
When will the channels return to Etisalat?
According to the Qatar-based beIN, they’re still talking, and as soon as a deal is in place, things will go back to normal.
“Discussions are currently ongoing with Etisalat regarding the renewal and inclusion of the channels in etisalat packages from 1 June,” a company spokesman said.
“If the service is discontinued, beIN content will be automatically removed from eLife subscriptions and your invoice will be reduced accordingly,” it said.
We’ll keep you posted if things go back up!