Enjoy? Well, that should read enjoyed. Skype is now closed to the UAE, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) has cut access to the system. Result? Call rates per minute to the USA in peak hours of US$0.60 and US$0.75 to the UK. And an unhappy workforce. Not to mention Etisalat profits up 30% and 41% for the second and third quarters this year respectively over 2005.
To set this development in context, Bahrain is currently the only Gulf state where it is legal to make an Internet telephony call. There have been well-publicised efforts in the past by governments to ban the Internet in general. Saddam Hussein's Iraq and BBC broadcasts being blocked by China come to mind. It should also be mentioned that the USA's Federal Communications Commission imposed a US$15,000 fine on a company called Madison River Communications which attempted to block rival services.
So why the UAE and why now?
Well, there is the simple question of money. As mentioned, the UAE operator Etisalat has seen its profits rocket in the months since the ban. The chance to make money would be a simple explanation if the situation was that simple. However, the UAE is generally regarded as quite a competitive environment.
Skype's background is that it was bought by eBay, and the latter was keen to spread its wings and provide IP telephony to markets worldwide. That is its undoing, at present at least. For it appears that easily- accessible, customer-friendly pricing have ruffled some Gulf feathers. Read what Mohammed Ghuaith, Director of Technology for the Emirates TRA, has to say: "People don't understand the harm of a provider that has no obligations to this country...Are the conversations secure? Are they being recorded? Will they steal information? Will they sell it? These are the things we need to look at."
Now, Developing Telecoms fully supports the empowerment that low-cost telephony can bring to emerging markets. And in Mohammed Guaith's defence, he acknowledges the arrival of a more competitive playing-field. It's just that the questions he asks of a foreign IP provider are exactly those that a citizens had every right to ask of his or her own country's old-fashioned state-run monopolistic plain old telephone service. The director accepts change but insists that it must be brought about gradually.
Many businesses operating in UAE, in addition to residents, are feeling the pinch. Skype's instant-messaging service could be and was used as an inexpensive way of bringing overseas-based operations together.
However, is there by any chance another reason for the UAE's decision?
Can we mention that a company called Efonica is making a bid to become the most subscribed-to VoIP provider, even above Skype? Yes, is the short answer. And where is this Efonica based - in Dubai, perhaps? 'Yes' answers the second question as well.
Early 2007 is expected to be the date for the legalisation of IP telephony in Dubai. And there will be Efonica ready to hoover up the calls and the profit. The regional director for Efonica is clear: "We aim to be ready as soon as the TRA makes an announcement."
Observers of VoIP are waiting to hear the tariffs to be charged by Efonica.
The same regional director is confident that TRA will allow IP calls to be free of charge. What happens if there is any third party which in turn needs to impose a charge remains to be seen.
Efonica is wholly owned by Fusion Telecommunications, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Several operators worldwide have teamed up with the company. Licences already exist in Bahrain and Jordan, with Saudi Arabia set to follow next year.
So, will Efonica team up with Etisalat? Will Skype be allowed to return? Efonica is keen to publicise the strengths it believes it has over other VoIP systems, with prices for the subscriber, and lower costs for the carrier when delivering the service, being two of the advantages asserted by the company. There is a third bonus which Efonica is keen to stress, namely entering phone numbers via a simple screen, a facility called efoLink.
Everything OK so far? Efonica and its promoted benefits ready for exploitation by an ever-more 'wired' population? Sorry to disappoint everyone: problem is, oh dear, that the Efonica website is, wait for it, banned in the UAE...
Local press coverage has been sympathetic to Skype users. The cumulative effects of the bans have been condemned in the newspapers as a hindrance to technological advancement.
In fact, even allowing for the reasons put forward in this review so far, one still asks why the UAE should impose a ban of any sort. Her Internet penetration rate is high -and can only become higher with the arrival of new systems.
Blocking can often be halted in the short-term. This is all too true of Cambodia (Cambodia 3G mobile ban astounds phone industry). In 2002, the Panamanian government saw its attempt to block VoIP overturned by its Supreme Court.
If legal challenges fail, telecoms specialists will find technological methods of avoiding such hurdles. At its bluntest, blocking is futile as people will find ways around it.
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