Q-Tel to raid illegal VoIP businesses

Monopoly fixed line provider Qatar Telecom (Q-Tel) is moving to cut down on the unauthorised provision of VoIP services by collaborating with local police to raid unlicensed shops and cyber cafés in the coming weeks, according to local newspaper The Peninsula. Q-Tel says that recent reductions in the tariffs of its ADSL packages have led to a surge in the number of customers utilising its lines for illegal VoIP calling. Canny entrepreneurs are selling pre-paid international VoIP calling cards to customers and then charging them as little as QAR5 (USD1.37) for an hour of internet access. Q-Tel now claims to have drawn up ‘a long list’ of shops, cyber cafés and retail outlets offering the services and is planning to conduct raids on them.