Communications in the United Arab Emirates

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In the United Arab Emirates, Federal Act No. 1 of 1976 ^[1] establishes the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation as the sole telephone and telecommunications provider for the United Arab Emirates, freezones and modern housing developments are exempt from this and utilise a separate telecommunications company called du. However for the majority of the UAE (Non free zones), Etisalat has a monopoly on business and personal telecommunications services.

Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established according to the UAE Federal Law by Decree No. 3 of 2003.^[2] The TRA requires Etisalat to actively censor Internet sites. Material deemed offensive, or "inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates", is usually blocked, as well as pornography and gambling sites. For commercial reasons, there is also a total ban on internet telephony or VoIP. The TRA has released conflicting statements regarding when (if ever) the ban will be lifted. As of 2010, Skype became unblocked, but the call connection time is unusually long and the call quality remains irregular, raising the question of whether the related IP traffic is being filtered or monitored.

Internet restrictions

Users who try to access a blocked web page are redirected to du's block page. Here shown in the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

TRA ^[3] instructs Etisalat and du to block parts of Wikipedia, all VoIP services such as Skype and SIP based services ^[4] and some social networking services like hi5, Friendster, and all dating sites like Yahoo! Personals and Match.com.^[5] For political reasons, the entire Israeli internet domain, .il, is also blocked. Pro-Israeli content which does not use the "*.il" domain, however, is accessible (e.g. jpost.com - the website of the Jerusalem Post).^[6] A 2005 study, before du was established, also showed Etisalat sometimes block websites relating to the Bahá'í Faith.^[7]

Broadcast media censorship

On 16 November 2007 Tecom stopped broadcast of two major Pakistani satellite news channels, uplinked from Dubai Media City, which was initially marketed by Tecom under the tagline "Freedom to Create." The Dubai government ordered Tecom to shut down the popular independent Pakistani news channels Geo News and ARY One World on the demand of Pakistan's military regime led by General Pervez Musharraf. This was implemented by du Samacom disabling their SDI & ASI streams. Later policy makers in Dubai permitted these channels to air their entertainment programs, but news, current affairs and political analysis were forbidden. Although subsequently the conditions were removed, marked differences have since been observed in their coverage. This incident has had a serious impact on all organizations in the media city with Geo TV and ARY OneWorld considering relocation.^[8][9][10]

Duopoly

In February 2006, a new Telephone company and Internet Service Provider called "du" has been established. Earlier it was providing triple play services to free zones areas under the name Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) (Which is still its legal name). du includes the telecommunications arm of Emaar properties, previously called "Sahm". Sahm as a telecomms operator for Emaar, a commercial and residential real estate developer, was in competition with the state-run Etisalat, and was arbitrarily absorbed into Dubai Holding Company/TECOM/Dubai government prior to the formation of du. As such, du services are only available in Dubai Holding Company/Emaar properties at present. Public services, competitive to Etisalat, should commence at the end of 2006. Number portability will not be immediately available.

Data

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.26 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 6,500,000 (2007)

Blackberry Users: 730,000 (2010) with 480,000 subscribed to Etisalat and about 250,000 with du (telco).^[11]

Internet subscribers: 578,000 (2005)

Telephone system: modern system consisting of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai
domestic: microwave radio relay and coaxial cable
international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia

Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 7, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 820,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 15 (1997)

Televisions: 310,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2008)

• Etisalat
• du

Country codes: AE

See also

• .ae
• du
• Etisalat
• Freedom of religion in the United Arab Emirates
• Human rights in the United Arab Emirates
• Politics of the United Arab Emirates

References

1. ^ American.edu - UAE ICT - Telecommunication Infrastructure, Regulation & Liberalization
2. ^ About TRA
3. ^ ArabianBusiness.com - TRA outlines Illegality of VoIP unblocking site
4. ^ ArabianBusiness.com - Thousands lose cheap calls as Du blocks Skype
5. ^ ArabianBusiness.com - UAE censor targets Facebook, Myspace
6. ^ OpenNet Initiative - Internet Filtering in the United Arab Emirates in 2004-2005: A Country Study
7. ^ "Internet Filtering in the United Arab Emirates in 2004-2005: A Country Study", Reports - Case Studies - 2005, OpenNet Initiative, 2005, http://opennet.net/studies/uae 
8. ^ Gulf News - Pakistani TV channels may move out of Dubai Media City
9. ^ Gulf News - Geo TV also plans to move out of Dubai
10. ^ NDTV.com - Geo TV hints at options outside of Dubai
11. ^ Misuse of instant messaging services punishable by law

External links

• Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
• Etisalat
• Internet Enemies 2011: Countries under surveillance - United Arab Emirates