VoIP introduction may be on the cards

Abu Dhabi : The Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) is on a sector liberalisation drive that may see the introduction of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services by etisalat and du this year.

Al Emarat Al Youm reported Sunday the companies plan to launch their services by July, but officials at both companies declined to confirm or deny the report. TRA said in early January it plans to unveil a new VoIP policy "soon".

"It's not an issue of allowing VoIP," TRA Director General Mohammad Al Ghanim told Gulf News. "It's an issue of regulation and consumer protection."

Al Ghanim said VoIP operators have been blocked in the UAE because the mechanisms do not exist to regulate them. Consumers have no outlet to direct complaints in case of poor service or other issues, he added.

VoIP companies allow users to make phone calls and send text messages to mobiles and land-lines using the internet for free or at costs well below those charged by traditional network operators.

The trade-off for the discounted or free services includes lower connection quality and less security, although companies such as Skype have won consumer praise in the West for offering high quality voice calls for as little as $0.02 (Dh0.07) per minute.

"It's a case of having the right infrastructure to do so and du already has an all IP network and Etisalat is nearly there," said Irfan Ellam, telecom analyst at Al Mal Capital. "It's a strategic choice for the business in order to maintain revenues and profitability."

In gthe UAE, as in the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the use of international VoIP services is banned by telecom regulators. The UAE's TRA has said it plans to allow local operators to offer the service through their own agents but will continue its prohibition on non-UAE based services.

But industry analysts have long offered a contradicting opinion on the TRA's unwillingness to allow VoIP access. As with the rest of the GCC, large expatriate populations could potentially have a big negative impact on the earnings of local telecom operators if they were to use VoIP.

"I think it will be done in a controlled fashion so as not to destroy such revenue streams of etisalat and du," said Sulaiman Abu Al Hosn, telecom analyst for Prime Emirates.

An etisalat official declined to comment beyond saying his company is waiting for TRA to release its policy. A du spokesman said his company would comply with TRA regulations, but offered little more information.

"Du's network is built based on IP technology," du Chief Commercial Officer Farid Faraidooni said in an emailed-statement. "Hence, we support VoIP as a technology and it is already used within our fixed and mobile networks."