I missed this little gem from Etisalat, the UAE’s monopoly state-owned telecoms service provider, back in August:
The Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE has stated that all use of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony in the UAE is illegal. The TRA has instructed Etisalat to block all access to VoIP telephony.
Marvellous. So much for Dubai being the hi-tech communications centre of the Middle East.
(Via samuraisam commenting on Secret Dubai Diary)
Hello – I found you through a referral to my blog – and have added you to the Blogroll and Bloglines at UAE community blog. It’s just a place to help UAE bloggers discuss issues of mutual relevance and cross-promote their blogs.
Welcome to Blogistan (Dubai Br) Est LLC!
I was working in UAE for Etislalat through to July 2005. You could not contact the Skype home page directly from anywhere in Abu Dhabi, although an Arab showed me a web diversion page, which took you there indirectly. That meant SkypeOut was difficult.
Nevertheless, Skype itself worked brilliantly, even from the Etisalat offices.