“There might be a lift of that ban… and it is going to happen soon, from what we understand from the telecommunications authority in the UAE”.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, executive director of the UAE’s National Electronic Security Authority (Nesa), said that WhatsApp calls might be returning to the UAE after he stated “(We are) collaborating here in the UAE and in many of those (aspect) we saw a very good understanding of the concept. There might be a lift of that ban for (WhatsApp) voice calls or broadcasting of many of the things that they do”.

Erm, exciting!

Al Kuwaiti was joining CNBC’s Capital Connection to discuss technology regulation here in the UAE when the statements were made.

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VoIP calls (Voice over Internet Protocol) are blocked due to current regulations, although the country’s primary licenced telecommunication providers, du and Etisalat, both offer international VoIP options, (Botim, C’Me) at a fee.

WhatsApp is working closely with the UAE under its current regulations

Collaboration has increased with WhatsApp, an internationally used, free, cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP service owned by Facebook and the report suggests the ban could be lifted soon.

Al Kuwaiti added that from what he knew from the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) the changes could be happening “soon”.