Muscat: No outside Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service will be permitted in Oman, but the three licensed telecom service providers are free to offer the service to consumers in the country, according to Naashiah Saud Al Kharusi, a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) member, yesterday.
In recent months public opinion has been growing stronger against the ban on VoIP services offered by providers outside the country. Therefore, the TRA held a media briefing to outline the policies regarding the ban on VoIP services such as Skype. "I personally spoke to a Skype representative during a conference in Bahrain, but they are not interested as they don't consider themselves service providers," she said.
Thus any hope consumers nurtured of using Skype officially in Oman have been dashed once and for all.
Out of reach
"The provision of such services from abroad undermines the ability to detect the possible associated crimes and their perpetrators since the facilitating infrastructure using VoIP is located outside Oman," she said.
She reiterated that the TRA had opened the tele-com market with a view to making it more competitive and beneficial to consumers. "As such we don't control tariffs, but to protect new entrants in the market we would not allow tariffs to go below the cost," she said.
Talking about Skype, she said it is uses a highly-encrypted software and does not meet the requirements of legal interception in Oman since the server is located abroad.
"The foreign companies enable the beneficiaries to access the basic voice service without having to be licensed in Oman and hence evade payment of taxes and royalties due to the government of the Sultanate and fail to provide job opportunities to Omani nationals in Oman," Al Kharusi said.
