Dubai Forums Dubai Tech Discussions Dubai high tech talk

Having just checked the rates on the links you posted, the actual call costs to ring both landlines and mobiles within the UAE are actually dearer than Etilistat.

Maybe you do work for these guys?

lol i suppose it could be dearer for there a lot of companys also offering deals now like vonage, it will be great for me to ring home anyway, good for international dialing i guess especially if you have one of the free ones listed, and then peeps can ring u at local rates on the asigned number bit like skype really, dunno works for me anyway...lol especially worth it if you have your broadband on a seperate pipe as i do here plan to cancel my phone line rental, will save me that and calls nopt too mention the vat, i dunno...gonna give it a shot anyway been usin the free calls on pc just with microphone, does the job - been doin a lot of research into the area, coa i love free stuff, just sharing the wealth ... My friends also think i have shares in winamp the way i go on about it

Sadly I think you might find that Voip is blcoked by Etisalat, they block Skype.

bummer

what other internet companies is there? any come with a seperate pipe ie not on phone line?

only 1 other DIC Telecom, but you can only get that service in certain parts, mainly the new developments.

Chocoholic wrote:Sadly I think you might find that Voip is blcoked by Etisalat, they block Skype.

you can try fone2asia .. where you buy the card here locally ... they are very cheap 30 dhs will be like hours ...


but since its only asia ... then you cant call UK .... but you can try asking your folks in UK to call you here in UAE using internet ... all you have to do is send them the code (but ive never tried this though but it might work) where you can buy in united hypermarket in diera .. its reall CHEAP !! rather than using your mobile:)

Skype is the leader in this field. I've been using it for over 2 years and its cut my phone bills by about 80%.

Chocoholic wrote:Sadly I think you might find that Voip is blcoked by Etisalat, they block Skype.

Not all VOIPs are blocked, I found a few not so long ago. But using VOIP is illegal in the UAE I think.

Using Skype is possible if you get it from www.download.com and install it. You just can't get to their website to add credit (but someone overseas could do it for you, or you do it yourself when you're overseas). And Skype to Skype is free anyway.

I believe there is software available that can actually detect and block Skype/VOIP connections (I mean the calls, not the website).

For a bit of irony, I-Mate, who are based in Dubai, are now selling their PDA-phones with Skype pre-installed. Except in the UAE of course ...

I've been using Skype over here on a daily basis without any problems at all.

arniegang wrote:Having just checked the rates on the links you posted, the actual call costs to ring both landlines and mobiles within the UAE are actually dearer than Etilistat.

Maybe you do work for these guys?

local calls using Etisalat are free. It would be hard to beat that.

Boost,
I think Choco means that the Skype website is blocked.
VoIP hasn't been blocked...Yet. VoIP is the protocol used to send voice over the internet. Skype, voipstunt, fone2asia etc all use VoIP. Etisalat have realised that just blocking websites is not enough and they need to block the VoIP protocol instead. Of course, they need the help of a UK company to do this.
PC-Phone is illegal, but I have never heard of anyone getting arrested for it. Can you imagine the conversation in jail:
Q. "What are you in for mate"
A. "I used my computer to call mum"
I don't think that PC-PC is illegal.
If you get broadband cable, you can get rid of your phone line if you really want to save 20dings per month.