Two experts in the telecommunications sector said that there are positive signs that the ban on calls via WhatsApp in the UAE will soon be lifted.
The experts told Emirates Today that talks between the UAE telecommunications authorities and those responsible for WhatsApp have made remarkable progress on the UAE's demands in case the embargo is lifted.
This came after the Executive Director of the National Authority for Cybersecurity, Mohammed Al-Kuwaiti, in a television interview, that the UAE may soon lift the ban on calls made through «WhatsApp», pointing out that cooperation has actually increased with «WhatsApp», where There was some understanding of the demands of the state.
For its part, the TRA preferred not to comment on the news of lifting the ban.
Progress
Mohammed al-Feki, a digital media expert and lecturer at Aldar University College in Dubai, said that there are discussions between the telecommunications authorities in the UAE and the company responsible for the application of WhatsApp for instant messaging, which could soon lead to the lifting of the ban on calls made via Application.
Al-Feki added that the talks made progress towards responding to some of the UAE's requests in case of lifting the ban, pointing out the importance of an integrated mechanism to avoid any possible negative impact in case of opening calls.
He predicted that the ban on WhatsApp calls would be lifted before the Expo 2020 Dubai, as one of the important initiatives that opens the way for increased investments in the country, especially in the telecommunications sector.
Growth in data
For his part, the UAE telecommunications expert, Ahmed Hamdi, agreed that there is significant progress in the talks between the concerned telecommunications authorities in the country and the company responsible for the implementation of «WhatsApp» on the understanding of those responsible for the implementation of the UAE's demands to lift the ban, expecting that the ban will be lifted WhatsApp calls coming soon.
Hamdi said that there is already growth in data subscriptions in the two telecom companies in the country, pointing out that this growth generates a large income for the two companies and compensates the income of calls.
The TRA, in turn, preferred not to comment on the news of the lifting of the ban on WhatsApp calls.
"There is nothing to talk about at the moment," a TRA spokesman said.
cooperation
The executive director of the National Cyber Security Authority, Mohammed Al-Kuwaiti, said in a television interview that «the UAE has strengthened its cooperation with major global technology platforms, including the application (Whatsapp) owned by (Facebook), on national security initiatives», pointing out that "The state may lift the ban on WhatsApp calls soon."
“Cooperation with WhatsApp has increased and we have seen a good understanding of our ideas on many issues,” he said on CNBC's Capital Connex program. There is a lifting of the ban on voice calls via the app ».
"This will happen soon, and that is what we know and understand from the TRA here in the UAE," he said.