Skype and WhatsApp in Dubai: Your Essential Guide for 2024

Skype and WhatsApp are modern bridges between people. Skype and Whatsapp are the latest apps that everyone has used recently to stay connected, share photos, videos, group chats, and talk to their friends and family.

Skype and Whatsapp are used frequently and sustain the competition of other social networking apps. They are the most popular apps for chatting, making video calls, and making voice calls. Generally, these two apps are used effortlessly to get in touch with people or even to compete and collaborate for work.

Skype in Dubai in 2024

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Dubai (UAE) blocked Skype. The website of Skype also does not function in Dubai or other countries in the UAE.

WhatsApp in UAE or Dubai

The Dubai government has blocked a few services on WhatsApp. It is the most convenient app to help people connect. An exception to having access to WhatsApp calls and all the benefits of WhatsApp is having a mobile number in your country with a data pack.

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It might not be much of a concern to use WhatsApp. One can access WhatsApp texting but cannot make calls to people. The Dubai government does not permit both voice and video calls. However, one can send or exchange video messages or audio texts through WhatsApp.

Both Skype and Whatsapp are not permitted in Dubai. This is the rule that was brought out in the year 2018. Dubai's other apps that empower people to contact each other through video or voice calls are considered unauthorised.

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Skype and Whatsapp also have the same restrictions at Dubai International Airport (DBX). One can only access the Skype website or the app in Dubai. WhatsApp can be used to acquire the benefits of texting or chatting. One can even send files and photographs using WhatsApp.

Recent Developments In Skype And WhatsApp Services In Dubai

Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the National Electronic Security Authority of the United Arab Emirates, speculates that the UAE might raise a ban on calls through Whatsapp. He spoke about this in an interview in 2019. A specific date is not mentioned for this raise in the ban.

• During the coronavirus pandemic and the COVID-19 lockdown of the country, many residents needed the services of Skype and WhatsApp.
• As many people around the universe were working from their homes, they used Skype and Whatsapp ardently.
• The people of Dubai also felt the need to use these apps and requested that the government consider this.
• The Telecom Regulator Industry of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) finally declared in March that free video and voice calls are allowed through a few apps.
• The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Dubai also enabled people to use Skype for business and Whatsapp calls to improve work-from-home conditions and for expatriates or tourists stuck in the city.
• This provides a little relief after this act by the Dubai government.
• This ban on Skype and Whatsapp services that the whole world enjoys has been argued for a long time.

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Why Did the Dubai Government Ban Skype and WhatsApp in the City and at the DBX?

• WhatsApp and Skype are other countries' Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP).
• DU and Etisalat are the two major telecom companies in Dubai. To encourage and generate revenue through voice and video calls, Dubai intends to support them.
• Dubai bans these services for security reasons and to assert its dominance over communications and cybersecurity in the city. As both Skype and WhatsApp provide encrypted services, Dubai believes these apps can threaten national security by not making the activities of people transparent.
• DU and Etisalat are the two companies in Dubai that launched BOTIM. It is Dubai's very own VoIP.
• The BOTIM app is available in the Google Play Store or App Store. The app allows one to make video and audio calls to people.
• The person you want to talk to on-call should also have the BOTIM app on their mobile device.
• At the airport, one must obtain the tourist SIM by DU or the tourist SIM by Etisalat.
• One can access the internet in Dubai only through SIMs bought in Dubai.
• As one can expect from a country with such luxury, internet use is costly in Dubai. One has to pay for a subscription to the BOTIM app.
• The subscription to the internet might cost you AED 100 (United Arab Emirates dirhams).
• The government of Dubai approves the app.