Confusion mounted in the UAE when Skype stopped functioning over the holidays .

What was initially thought to be a temporary glitch turned out be a full-fledged banning of Skype by Etisalat and Du. 

Both Etisalat and du acknowledged it on Twitter

Hi,
The access to the Skype App is blocked since it is providing unlicensed Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service, which falls under the classification of prohibited contents as per the United Arab Emirates’ Regulatory Framework. Thanks

— #قدام_يالأبيض (@etisalat) December 30, 2017

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@profamii Hello, Please note that any unauthorized applications or services that are providing VoIP calling services are not supported in UAE. For our Internet Calling offer, please visit: https://t.co/HRMxiwEN73. Thanks

— du (@dutweets) December 30, 2017

What now?

Fortunately for everyone living in the UAE, both the the telecom providers are providing a legal alternative to Skype with the help of their VoIP-based apps BOTIM and C’Me.

These apps provide unlimited voice and video call services, but unlike Skype, they come with a monthly fee. 

They come with dual monthly packages of AED50 and AED100. 

To know more about these internet calling packs, click here for du and here for Etisalat. 

As per Etisalat

With a subscription to any of the Internet Calling Plans, you can make unlimited Voice & Video calls with any of our supported applications ( BOTIM and C’Me ) . for more details please visit the below link :https://t.co/ThyHsLX68v

— #قدام_يالأبيض (@etisalat) December 30, 2017