Dubai, UAE, 10/17/2021 / TopWire News /
On Sunday, FaceTime calls appeared to be working in the United Arab Emirates, indicating a relaxation of long-standing prohibitions on Apple’s software in the federation of 7 sheikhdoms.
There was no official statement on the subject. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority in the UAE did not reply quickly to a request for comment. Apple did not reply to a request for comment either. Journalists from the Associated Press were able to make FaceTime voice and video calls with decent sound quality to persons both within and outside the nation.
The United Arab Emirates, home to the oil-rich capital of Abu Dhabi and the free-wheeling financial center of Dubai, has long prohibited web calling applications like WhatsApp and FaceTime, reportedly to safeguard the profitability of its monopolistic state-run telecommunication organizations.
The restriction, however, has not been explained officially by officials. In most cases, Apple iPhones and PCs sold in the UAE do not have the FaceTime calling software.
The restriction appears to have persisted on calls made using Skype, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, and other comparable online applications.
After a year’s wait owing to the pandemic, Dubai inaugurated its huge world’s fair earlier this month, hoping to draw millions of tourists from around the world. Visitors may conduct WhatsApp and FaceTime conversations on the vast Expo fairgrounds in Dubai’s southern desert. The authorities haven’t said anything about the easing of limitations.
In the past, such schemes have momentarily worked in the UAE before being interrupted owing to changes in internet filtering.
Source: Submit123News
