Egypt’s Vodafone questions legality of ‘WhatsApp Voice’ in the country
Vodafone has not yet decided what action it will take if the regulator states that WhatsApp Voice is illegal
Egypt’s biggest mobile service provider expressed concern over the legality of WhatsApp’s free voice-calling feature, Cairo-based Al-Ahram reported Monday.
Vodafone said that if launched, the new international feature would be illegal according to Egypt’s law governing telecommunications.
In Egypt, one article of the law prohibits establishing or operating telecommunication services and by-passing international telephone calls without obtaining a license from the regulator.
Vodafone has not yet decided what action it will take if the regulator states that WhatsApp Voice is illegal, said a company source to the newspaper.
WhatsApp Voice, which is due to be launched soon, will allow users to make voice calls for free via WhatsApp, using only Internet connectivity.
According to the daily, the Egyptian government has previously suggested banning free messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Viber for both “security” and “financial” reasons.
WhatsApp has around 700 million monthly active users worldwide. It was acquired by Facebook in October 2014.
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