15 March 2010: The Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) says only the four existing telecom operators – etisalat, du and satellite operators Thuraya and YahSat – will be allowed to offer Voice over Internet Protocol services (VoIP) later this year. Third party service operators such as Skype would be allowed to negotiate partnership agreements with these operators.
05 February 2010: The TRA is on a sector liberalisation drive that may see the introduction of VoIP services by etisalat and du this year. The companies plan to launch their services by July, but officials at both companies declined to confirm or deny the report.
21 October 2009: etisalat and du, the UAE's two telecom operators, are ready to launch international VoIP (voice over internet protocol) as soon as the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) issues a policy.
3 March 2009: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said it would allow internet telephony, or Voice over Internet Protocol technology, but only for local calls within the UAE. Long-distance calls using VoIP will continue to be prohibited for the time being to protect the revenue telecom operators receive from international calls.
29 January 2007: du announces that internet users in Dubai Free Zones will be barred from using VoIP in compliance with the instructions of the TRA starting February of the same year.
1 November 2006: According to government officials, UAE will lift the ban on internet telephony, or VoIP from December
August 2006: etisalat's efforts to stamp out unauthorised VoIP access appear to have spilled over into the free zones, with office workers there reporting difficulties in using the free to low cost internet-based phone service
February 16, 2006: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has issued a licence to du to operate in the UAE. “Customers now have a second telecommunications company and freedom of choice.”
May 06, 2005: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority approved the establishment of a new telecommunications company. The move effectively ends etisalat's monopoly
April 2005: etisalat has blocked the sites offering voice over internet protocol (VoIP). etisalat's head of public relations, Ahmad Bin Ali, denied using VoIP was ever legal. He said "Internet telephony up until now is illegal to use in the UAE. etisalat can't make these laws. There's no law."
02 October 2004: The Supreme Committee set up to oversee the UAE's telecommunications sector has endorsed the board resolution and budget of the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA). The Supreme Committee was set up under Decree no. 3 of 2003 by President His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
January 2004: Emirates Internet and Multimedia (EIM), Etisalat's Internet section, sent warning letters to Internet surfing centres in the UAE to refrain from using Internet telephony.
