The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has removed the ban on voice and video calls on the instant messaging service, WhatsApp. Many users in UAE have confirmed to Outlook that the features are now available on their app even though the UAE authorities have not made any public announcement regarding this. The Gulf News and The Khaleej Times have also confirmed the development in this regard.
Many users have also taken to the social media to share the joy of this pleasant surprise. The removal of ban has come as a big relief to more than 2.6 million Indian expatriates in UAE to connect with their friends and families back home.
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However, according to The Arab News, some users have said that the feature is still “unresponsive as ever” for them.
According to The Khaleej Times, video calls, officially rolled out by WhatsApp in November, 2016, was blocked in UAE as it was a VoIP service. VoIP services were restricted in the UAE and only licensed providers were allowed to offer such services.
The Gulf New reported that users can now use the voice and video call features when connected to mobile roaming or WiFi network.
The Communications and Information Technology Commission, the agency that regulates telecoms in Saudi Arabia, released a statement saying that it would “like to clarify that it did not direct/order to block nor return such a feature” to service, and that it was following up on the issue with Internet service providers, adds The Arab News report.
