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Discuss this article (11 Comments)Skype hype
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Tuesday, 25 August 2009
News reported on ITP.net and Arabianbusiness.com about Skype opening an office in Bahrain, elicited numerous responses from readers. The news that Skype is planning on opening an office in Bahrain though is hopefully a sign that greater cooperation between Skype and some regional mobile operators is on the cards.
One reader went on to comment about this story, saying, “Just wait until someone tells the CEO of Etisalat about Google Voice. If he thinks Skype is bad...these people really don't know what's going to hit them in the near future. They're completely unprepared for the 21st century and have a business model based on 1970s phone systems”.
Another reader went on to say, “Technology and human survival will go together in the progress of humanity and the wealth needs to be shared and not concealed by the nations to feed their own selected companies or people. Skype has the hurdles and we hope an open minded government may open the space for the technology of Skype to move forward”.
The argument behind ‘blocking’ Skype in countries such as the United Arab Emirates is that it protects the mobile operators from losing profits. From one perspective, this is a fair point, especially when one considers that above eighty percent of the UAE’s population comprises expats and that many of these expats will want to use Skype when making international calls to their loved ones back home.
Furthermore, the UAE has a very small population, only around five million people according to recent reports in newspapers such as Gulf News. This renders the telecommunications market in a country such as the UAE very small and vulnerable in comparison to other markets in the rest of the world. I can understand why mobile operators such as Etisalat and du don’t want Skype in the UAE.
And it’s not only companies such as Etisalat and du that are trying to protect their market. The controversy surrounding Apple recently blocking the Google Voice application in the United States for the iPhone illustrates as to just how much fear there is surrounding competitive voice services.
With Skype introducing an office in the Gulf, it might be a good idea for the likes of Etisalat and du to seek ways of working with Skype to develop greater co-operation. Many consumers are unhappy about the fact Skype is ‘blocked’ in their country, and it isn’t an ideal situation when people will end up resorting to finding ‘workarounds’ for accessing Skype in countries such as the UAE when they can easily access it in many other places in the world. Let’s hope that all parties involved will consider working together.
Gareth Van Zyl is the deputy editor of Windows Middle East English.
READERS' COMMENTS
Disclaimer: The views expressed here by our readers are not necessarily shared by ArabianBusiness.com or its employees.
Profiteering plain and simple
Posted by Harry Barracuda, Manama, Bahrain on Sunday 30 August 2009 at 10:09 UAE time
Why doesn't anyone call this what it is? Profiteering and abuse of monopoly (or in this case cartel).
Fortunately our TRA here banned our ISP from blocking Skype, but it doesn't seem to have dented their profits too much, as there are plenty of people that don't want to use computers to talk to their friends and family.
The people in charge of Etlisat and Du are abusing their power to make more money, it's as simple as that.
As for Apple blocking it, no they don't make money from the calls, but you can bet they get a cut from the phone service providers with which they do "exclusive" deals, so it's natural that they'll help those providers block Skype as well.
They're also protecting their inflated revenues at the expense of the customer.
Posted by Harry Barracuda, Manama, Bahrain on Sunday 30 August 2009 at 10:09 UAE time
Why doesn't anyone call this what it is? Profiteering and abuse of monopoly (or in this case cartel).
Fortunately our TRA here banned our ISP from blocking Skype, but it doesn't seem to have dented their profits too much, as there are plenty of people that don't want to use computers to talk to their friends and family.
The people in charge of Etlisat and Du are abusing their power to make more money, it's as simple as that.
As for Apple blocking it, no they don't make money from the calls, but you can bet they get a cut from the phone service providers with which they do "exclusive" deals, so it's natural that they'll help those providers block Skype as well.
They're also protecting their inflated revenues at the expense of the customer.
SKYPE
Posted by SKYPE USER on Saturday 29 August 2009 at 09:05 UAE time
I use SKYPE all of the time to dial land lines anywhere in the world for hours on end. YOu can do it too.
Posted by SKYPE USER on Saturday 29 August 2009 at 09:05 UAE time
I use SKYPE all of the time to dial land lines anywhere in the world for hours on end. YOu can do it too.
Blocking Skype in the UAE
Posted by Charles Blaschke, Dubai, UAE on Friday 28 August 2009 at 10:25 UAE time
People believe, and know that Skype is blocked in the UAE because it is blocked by the government (like the article said) to make outgoing international calls.
You can download the software and make what is called "Skype-to-Skype" calls, but you cannot dial an international land line. This is yet another point of government control and stripping citizens of their freedoms so that they (phone companies, and in turn the government) can make money.
A very good article, and very relevant topic.
Posted by Charles Blaschke, Dubai, UAE on Friday 28 August 2009 at 10:25 UAE time
People believe, and know that Skype is blocked in the UAE because it is blocked by the government (like the article said) to make outgoing international calls.
You can download the software and make what is called "Skype-to-Skype" calls, but you cannot dial an international land line. This is yet another point of government control and stripping citizens of their freedoms so that they (phone companies, and in turn the government) can make money.
A very good article, and very relevant topic.
FAO of telco Guy
Posted by ross, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 27 August 2009 at 20:48 UAE time
you can easily make a skype out call - to recharge you can have it setup to auto recharge - everything is possible and people should not believe what they hear.
As regard to whether its fair - well of course its not fair - there can never be justification for banning it - if mobile networks were new in the UAE and there was a need for huge investment then fair enough.
But etisalat are making huge profits whilst we all struggle.
Posted by ross, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 27 August 2009 at 20:48 UAE time
you can easily make a skype out call - to recharge you can have it setup to auto recharge - everything is possible and people should not believe what they hear.
As regard to whether its fair - well of course its not fair - there can never be justification for banning it - if mobile networks were new in the UAE and there was a need for huge investment then fair enough.
But etisalat are making huge profits whilst we all struggle.
Mobile
