UAE regulator confirms VoIP position

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reaffirmed its position with regard to voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) telephony services, saying that only the country’s two fixed line licensees, Etisalat and Du, are currently permitted to offer VoIP calls. Responding to reports suggesting that internet telephony services such as Skype and Viber were being ‘blocked’, the TRA has clarified that the offerings have never been licensed and there are currently no plans to do so, Emirates 24/7 reports. The UAE has a large expatriate community, and the large amount of international voice traffic generated by the foreign nationals is an important source of income for state-backed Etisalat.