As the UAE's telecom regulator drafts a policy to allow voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology, thousands of internet users continue to make discounted international calls illegally.
A countrywide ban blocks most internet browsers from opening popular websites to enable PC to phone calling, such as Net2Phone, NetPro, Skype or the vonage.com digital phone service.
However, cyber caf managers have said many internet users find ways around the firewalls to make low-cost international calls.
"It is about time a policy was introduced, because people are using VoIP anyway. How can a small few monitor and manage a big lot?" asked Charlie John Mak, manager of the Browse House Caf in Dubai.
VoIP describes a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the internet to make telephone calls, free of cost, or at a discount to rates charged by service operators.
Last week, telecom officials said the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA)'s VoIP policy could be drafted before the start of 2007.
"The TRA is looking at this issue and they are working on adopting a VoIP policy for the UAE to officially and fully legalise the use of voice over the internet, in order to make phone calls in some way," Justin Conner, head of telecom practice for law firm Al Tamimi and Company, said on the sidelines of the Connect telecom conference in Dubai last week.
"It is a bit overdue at this point. But I would say by the end of this year the policy will be in place." Already, VoIP has become a major provider of phone services to migrant workers and expatriates, who are able to save at least 40 per cent on etisalat's rates, Mak said.
PC to PC messenger services, such as MSN andYahoo!, are popular and legal, but are only useful if the person you are calling has a computer and the service downloaded.
One cyber caf manager, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said many cafs sell PC-to-phone calling cards for $40 (Dh146), for use on certain VoIP websites.
PC-to-phone rates are convenient and cheaper than etisalat's rates.
Cloncom.com, a PC-tophone website that Emirates Today was able to open, charges 3.2 US cents (Dh0.12) per minute for a call to the United Kingdom.
Vonage.com, meanwhile, has a package for unlimited local and national calls in the United Kingdom and a free fax line.
"Etisalat charges Dh5 per minute during the daytime for international calls.
"It is too much.VoIP would be very popular here," said Farida Bahar, manager of the French Connection chain of cyber cafs.
A TRA official said having a policy in place to allow similar packages here would depend heavily on protecting state-owned operators Etisalat and du from losing lucrative revenue streams.
One way could be to allow the operators to adopt VoIP, which would reduce costs and lower phone charges, while continuing to block nonlicensed websites.
"Expatriates really would benefit from this issue. I think it will be allowed through the operators - Etisalat and du. But it is a lively debated issue and it is very difficult to regulate," the official said.
Mohammed Khalfan Al Qamzi, chief executive officer of Etisalat, said telephone companies are slowly migrat ing to VoIP technology but it has yet to reach the level of sophistication needed to allow them to provide the service to the mass market.
Traditional phone networks are still more reliable; VoIP calls are often poor quality and suffer from transmission errors.
Still, once the regulations are in place, etisalat will be ready with a product, Al Qamzi added.
"When everybody will go for that kind of services, then etisalat will do it.
"But you don't want to work in a jungle. International telecom companies must have the proper regulations in place," Al Qamzi said.
"When you are calling from here to India, I have to pay money to India.There are certain charges between each operator in each country. People would love to have cheaper calls.
"But it will take time to be organised and ready for it," he added.
Void is the future
Many large telecom companies are switching to VoIP products, which should eventually replace public switch networks.
By routing thousands of phone calls through a circuit switch and into an IP gateway, operators can drastically reduce bandwidth use.
VoIP has been used by almost every operator around the world in the last five to 10 years. This new technology allows for communications to be structured in a fundamentally different way, said Mark Rotter, a telecom analyst with IT research firm, IDC.
Regulating VoIP is an agenda item for countries around the world. Last week, the US Federal Communications Commission approved a plan requiring internet telephony providers to pay seven per cent of their revenues to a telephone service fund. The move may hit revenues of VoIP providers, which could be forced to raise per-minute costs.
By Daliah Merzaban
Emirates Today 2006
