UAE telecom firm du has completed the blockage of the telephone aspect of VoIP provider Skype. Subscribers to the operator are now no longer able to make, or receive, calls to mobiles or fixed landlines from their computers. PC-to-PC calls are still possible.

All access to Skype for subscribers to Etisalat, the UAE's other telecom operator, has been blocked for over two years. The ban comes as per the guidelines set forth by the UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA). "du hasn't blocked the use of Skype or its web site. du only blocked the 'PC-to-phone' and 'phone-to-PC' communication as per the TRA's guidelines with regard to content filtering," said a du spokesperson.

Earlier this year, du had placed a proxy on web sites that were not in compliance with the UAE laws. The most affected by this decision were companies based in Dubai's free zones and residents of freehold properties. Skype is a popular web site worldwide used to make cheap calls from the PC to the phone and vice-versa. However, in the UAE, etisalat has already banned the web site and its features as per the TRA instructions.


"du blocked PC-to-phone and phone-to-PC communication shortly after the TRA issued its policy and directives in this regard. The time lapse between the issuance of the TRA directive and the actual blocking of the communication was due to the time required for systems designing and implementation in order to comply with the TRA's policy," read the du statement. Meanwhile, du has also launched its "Freetime Offer". According to this offer, all subscribers will be credited with 1 fil worth of credit for every second of international phone call they make, allowing them to offset their monthly bill or add top up credit automatically.

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