CAIRO: Egypt’s National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has decided to enforce legislation banning voice services on the internet, according to Khaled Hegazy, external affairs director for Vodafone.
At press time, Vodafone was the only mobile provider to enforce the regulator’s decision, which specifically targets Skype, the free internet calling and video-chat service, making it no longer accessible on USB internet modems.
Hegazy explained, “Using the internet to bypass international phone services is not legal in Egypt, and the regulator [NTRA] has said that all mobile phone companies must stop allowing voice services over an IP address.
He added, “This is not something new, but [mobile providers] weren’t required to enforce it until recently.
He explained that thus far, land-based internet use, whether dial-up or Wifi, would still allow the use of Skype, as such use is primarily home-based, and would thus be “not permitted but tolerated.
“However, the users of Skype on mobile devices is more often for business, to bypass the national network of Telecom Egypt as the network of mobile.
He explained that the NTRA decided to enforce the ban once Skype use had “reached commercial magnitude, although he stressed that Vodafone’s balance sheet would “not be affected.
“Other voice services [such as those provided by MSN, Yahoo, Gmail and Facebook] will likely also be suspended. This is not directed at Skype as a brand.
Mobile providers Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat provide international calling services through Telecom Egypt, the government-owned provider of landline services.
Ramy Raoof, online media officer for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, reported that thus far only Vodafone has implemented the NTRA’s ban on Skype from mobile devices.
“The representative from Mobinil denied that Skype would be banned, saying they hadn’t been informed by the regulator and said, ‘If we do this, we would text all our clients’, he explained.
Just last week, the United Arab Emirates banned Skype, AFP reported, which the CEO of the internet telephony firm called short-sighted especially for a country with a large immigrant population.
