TRA 2015

TRA in 2009 (on the topic of Skype):

"I don't see the TRA being anti-consumer," he said. "We opened up the market. We are trying to protect consumers. The TRA is a government agency. We have wider issues to worry about. Consumers only have their own concern to worry about." (source: http://gulfnews.com/business/telecoms/tra-denies-anti-consumer-charge-1.266598)

TRA in 2015 (on the topic of actual consumer protection):

"The TRA had said last year that as of May 18, only 55,555 mobile numbers had been successfully transferred out of 190,185 requests submitted in the first five months of the mobile number portability service’s availability. 

The regulator also said that the 134,222 rejected applications included some that had been resubmitted more than once by the holder of the number. 

In yesterday’s statement, the TRA said that a joint team would be formed comprising the TRA and the operators “to find appropriate solutions to customer complaints”.  (source: http://www.thenational.ae/business/telecoms/uae-telecoms-regulator-steps-up-oversight-into-customer-complaints)

Given that it is 2015 and du and Etisalat still do not have any real interconnection between their broadband networks (i.e. 0 competition) and given that roughly two thirds of all mobile portability (i.e. Etisalat>du or du>Etisalat) are failing (i.e. roughly one third competition), has the TRA really done a good job of worrying about the "wider issues" thus far?

Serious Business

"These types of crimes are very serious, and according to the tip-off the department organised a team to investigate the case," said Major Salah Bu Aseeba, Director of the Department of Economic Crimes at Dubai Police."

Damn. What could be so serious? Not only serious, but "very serious"? And not only that, what could be so bad to catch the attention of the "Economic Crimes" department?

Corporate espionage? Price fixing? Cement and steel industry cartels? Monopoly?

No... Far more serious...

VoIP. Seriously.

Skype access to return to the UAE?

It might be according to Arabian Business - but don't hold your breath, read the whole article.

Quote of the decade from Mohamed Al Ghanim, director general of the TRA:

Customers and even those (VoIP) companies think that we are blocking them, but we are not blocking them – we are putting a process together for those companies to be licenced and this will take some time. There are challenges associated with it.

Wait a minute - an online company with no physical presence in the U.A.E has to be licensed in the U.A.E.? Is this true with other companies such as Ebay?

Another gem:

When we licence a company in the UAE, we make sure they have a presence, so if you pay your bill and the company does not provide you with a service, there is a way to recover your money. Customers need to be protected.

Yah - tell that to the people who have lost their money to U.A.E. licensed companies such as property developers who have over-hyped and under-delivered, or to telecom companies who charge people for a fast internet speed but deliver such a slow speed that a snail would be ashamed of it.

Why can't the TRA just come out and say, "We're banning Skype because it would cut into our already humungous profits."?

We could live with that!