The National, April 10, 2013
Skype not authorised in UAE, says telecoms authority
Kyle Sinclair
Apr 9, 2013
The internet phone service Skype remains unauthorised, despite the unblocking of
its website by the UAE's two internet providers.
The internet regulator, the
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), issued a statement today saying
that du and Etisalat "must seek approval to provide such service after
fulfilling the regulatory and technical requirements of the TRA, which has not
happened in the case of Skype.
It added: VoIP [voice over
internet protocol] services through Skype are still unauthorised.
The regulator said the rules on the
issue were unchanged, and only
Etisalat and
du were currently licensed to provide VoIP services in the UAE.
While technically and legally there
is no problem in authorising VoIP services, neither
Microsoft - which owns Skype - nor du or Etisalat have such authorisation
for Skype.
Etisalat announced yesterday on its
Facebook page that it had lifted the block on Skype's website, while du users
have been able to access the site for several weeks.
ksinclair@thenational.ae