News

WhatsApp Usernames Are Coming: Here’s How To Claim Yours

Meta says handles will keep phone numbers private. Regulators and fraud watchers are less sure the trade-off is that simple.

Published

3 months ago

July 6, 2026

Dana Saadeh

whatsapp usernames are coming here's how to claim yours

Meta

For more than a decade, using WhatsApp has meant handing out your phone number. But that’s about to change. Meta announced last week that the messaging platform will introduce usernames – handles that can stand in for a phone number, keeping personal contact details private.

The feature isn’t live yet, and a global rollout will unfold over the coming months. But reservations are already open, and the scramble has begun. Anyone hoping to carry the same handle across every platform will want to move quickly.

Reservations are currently limited to the mobile app. On iPhone, users will need to tap the You button, open their profile, and select “Create Username” or “Reserve Username,” depending on whether the rollout has reached them. On Android, the same options sit under the three-dot menu, in Settings, via your profile. There’s also a shortcut: users can claim their existing Facebook or Instagram handle, provided nobody has taken it first – though anyone chasing privacy may prefer a fresh name that isn’t linked to their other accounts.

The rules are similar to other online platforms. Usernames must be unique, between three and 35 characters, and composed of lowercase letters, numbers, underscores, and periods. All-number handles are banned, as are restricted words or phrases. If someone changes or deletes a claimed name, it returns to the pool after 14 days. Meta hasn’t said how many changes each user will be allowed, only that a limit is coming.

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The harder part of the puzzle is fraud. Meta plans an authorization key for first-time contact by username, but it hasn’t explained how it will police copycats impersonating public figures, which is a real concern when social media scams have already cost users billions of dollars.

Reuters reported that India’s government wants Meta to freeze the rollout until it justifies the feature and details how it will combat the elevated fraud risks. With more than 500 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market, and will be the first regulatory test of whether usernames launch everywhere at once.

News

For etisalat, More Bandwidth Is A Matter Of Digital Sovereignty

The etisalat group plans to expand its international capacity from 20 Tbps to more than 500 Tbps by 2030, with new routes designed for speed and resilience.

Published

2 days ago

October 6, 2026

Nour Nasir

for etisalat, more bandwidth is a matter of digital sovereignty

Emirates News Agency

By 2030, etisalat group plans to lift its international connectivity capacity to more than 500 terabits per second (Tbps), more than 25 times the 20 Tbps it has today. The group presented the expansion as preparation for rising AI demand and an important move for the UAE’s digital sovereignty.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, witnessed the launch of the project, which covers the UAE and international markets. Sheikh Mansour is also Chairman of the Emirates Investment Authority, etisalat group’s main shareholder.

He emphasized the role of coordinated national efforts in advancing the UAE’s AI and digital economy ambitions. “AI is a central pillar in our development journey moving forward,” he said, adding that developing the country’s digital capabilities would empower every institution, public and private, to build and innovate with AI “at the scale the coming decade will demand”.

“This project reflects our conviction that the UAE should not simply adopt AI, but govern it and build with it,” said H.E Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, Chairman of etisalat group. “That requires digital infrastructure at a scale that would prepare us for the future”. He cast greater international connectivity as a strategic answer to the challenges of processing and moving data globally.

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Beyond raw bandwidth, the expansion will introduce new connectivity routes intended to improve reliability and efficiency, and Alzaabi tied them directly to the sovereignty goal. “Delivered through diversified routes and low-latency design, the project is set to keep the country’s connection to the global digital economy fast, direct and resilient, while ensuring the UAE’s digital sovereignty,” he said.

He also linked the plan to the group’s 50-year commitment to building infrastructure for the nation. The announcement didn’t mention what the expansion will cost. Nor did it name the new routes or say who will build them, the details that would show what digital sovereignty means in practice.