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.

du tell

Gulf News yesterday:

Dubai: From next month internet users in Dubai's free zones will be barred from calling phone lines from their PCs using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in an apparent change of heart by the UAE's telecom regulator.

An announcement banning use of VoIP in Dubai Internet City was made to customers by du-owned DIC Telecom, the telecommunications provider for the free zone, in compliance with instructions issued by the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA).
. . .
TRA general director Mohammad Al Ganem, said the development is not new.

"This is a clear policy of the TRA and is country-wide, including all free zones. This has been made clear for some time," he said.

From a GN report in November:

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said yesterday it would allow internet telephony, or Voice over Internet Protocol technology, but only for local calls within the UAE.
...
The news comes as a half-reversal of its announcement in October, when it said it would allow VoIP from the two licensed operators, etisalat and du.

"We are taking it step by step," he said. "At some point VoIP will be liberalised. As for when, I cannot give you a date. We do not want the quality of service to be lacking or the revenues of the operators to be hurt."

The TRA believes 60 per cent of the telecom revenues in the UAE come from international calls, and that allowing VoIP calls could severely hamper the financial performance of operators.

I wonder what the stor is here. It seems that either du saw some glimmer of possibility that it could gain share in the free zones by allowing VoIP and has been reigned in, or TRA expressly allowed it and then had a "change of heart."