Khalaf Al Habtoor: WhatsApp call ban should be lifted, in ‘pioneering’ spirit of the nation

A leading Emirati businessman says the ban on WhatsApp voice calls in the UAE should be lifted.

In a video on his Twitter account, Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of conglomerate Al Habtoor Group, called for the service to be made available in line with the pioneering spirit of the country.

Mr Al Habtoor, who often uses social media to comment on a range of topics, told telecommunications companies that the free Voice over Internet Protocol service should be made accessible in the UAE, as it is in other countries. He shared his message in English and Arabic.

“In a country like the UAE, where we aim to always be pioneers in all we do, WhatsApp calls should not banned when it is accessible everywhere else in the world,” Mr Al Habtoor said. “I urge mobile carriers in the UAE to lift the ban on a service free to use in the top nations of the world.”

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority says that VoIP applications such as WhatsApp and Skype must comply with the regulation frameworks of the country.

The authority says that VoIP services are the prerogative of licensed telecommunication providers and that companies wishing to offer them must co-ordinate with those providers.

Only last year telecoms provider du said it was open to offering VoIP services such as WhatsApp calling over its network, provided such services were offered in partnership with operators.

Fahad Al Hassawi, du’s chief commercial officer, said that formal agreements had to be signed between the networks and providers first.

“We have an open invitation to any provider, be it WhatsApp, Skype or whoever, to come and partner with us and we can come up with the right offering that falls within the licensing requirements here in the UAE,” Mr Al Hassawi said.

“There’s an obligation on us as operators to make sure that we’re offering such services according to the terms of our licence from the regulator.”

Operators have in the past argued against the formal introduction of VoIP services on their networks, arguing that the erosion of international call revenues hinder the ability to invest in their networks.

However, UAE residents have long called for VoIP services to be made available, because they save money on expensive phone calls to their home countries.

In March this year and in June last year, customers reported that the WhatsApp calling service worked in the UAE, but this availability proved to be only temporary.