Skype officially blocked in UAE: telecoms authority

Skype, which offers free video, audio and text communication via the internet, is officially banned in the United Arab Emirates, said the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

Neither of the country’s service providers - the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), and the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company - had submitted a request to the authority to lift the ban, said TRA General Manager Mohamed Nasser al-Ghanem.

“Skype is still blocked, and will remain so until the provider obtains an official license from the TRA,” he told al-Emarat al-Youm newspaper.

However, Etisalat said the authority had declared in 2010 that operators could offer the service without submitting requests.