Six arrested for offering international calls without licence in Oman

Muscat: The Royal Oman Police (ROP) have arrested six Pakistani expatriates for illegally offering international calls using the Voice Over Internet Protocol Network (VOIPN), according to a press release issued by the ROP.

Acting on a tip-off, the Criminal Investigations Department at the ROP raided a house in Haima town in Oman's Central Region and caught the six accused with all the paraphernalia used to provide the service, mostly to low-wage expatriate workers.

A significant amount of cash was also recovered from them.

In the recent past Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the country has carried out several awareness campaigns to propagate that use of VOIP service of VOIPN contravened Article 20 of the TRA Act.

So far, the TRA has not taken any action against any individuals but several Cyber Cafes, which were offering such services have either been warned or fined and some cases shut down.

Under the TRA regulations, the local Internet service providers also block access to such services but newer VOIP keep cropping up.

Under the TRA regulations, only licensed service providers can offer any communication services, including VOIP telephone. The police have appealed to all residents to abide by the law so to avoid legal action.