Etisalat

dubai marina

Etisalat to cut 3% staff

etisalat Etisalat will cut about three percent of its staff, aiming to reduce costs as it faces greater competition in domestic markets.

The UAE market leader in the Gulf Arab country’s telecoms sector will cut at least 300 of 10,460 jobs, the National said, citing Etisalat officials.

In the UAE, Etisalat faces rising competition from telecoms provider du , the country’s second largest provider, with a market share of 37 percent at the end of August. Du’s third quarter profits more than doubled last month on strong revenue growth.

From: Arabian Business

Tourists in Dubai to get a free mobile SIM

VoIP International calls to become a reality in Dubai

voip in dubai
Currently Internet Telephony is not publicly accessible and those who use it have to go through a labyrinth of technical mumbo-jumbo with a constant fear of legal prosecution.

However, there is some light at the end of tunnel, as Etisalat and Du will soon offer the service that allows customers to make international calls over the internet.

Both companies are awaiting final approval and instructions from the country’s telecommunications regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

dubai expat life

Etisalat installing spyware as BlackBerry update: accuses RIM

Research In Motion (RIM) the producer of Blackberry smart phones has accused Etisalat of installing spyware, to intercept communications of its subscribers, disguised as patch updates.

An update etisalat termed as a “performance enhancing patch” that was issued earlier this month led to excessive battery drainage in BlackBerry phones, which experts attributed to a communications interception software pushed on to subscribers’ devices by the operator.

In an eight page “customer update”, the Canada based company rejected etisalat’s assertion that the update was intended to enhance performance on the BlackBerry network.

“Etisalat appears to have distributed a telecommunications surveillance application that was designed and developed by SS8… independent sources have concluded that it is possible that the installed software could then enable unauthorized access to private or confidential information stored on the user’s smartphone,” the statement read.

“RIM confirms that this software is not a patch and it is not a RIM authorized upgrade,” it said.

In a statement issued last week Etisalat said that the update was intended to facililitate the “handover between 2G and 3G networks”.

RIM said that such third party patches “cannot provide any enhancements to network services as there is no capability for third parties to…make such improvements to the communications between a BlackBerry smartphone and a carrier’s (etisalat’s) network”.

Etisalat has 145,000 BlackBerry subscribers. It has not commented on RIM’s statement.

YouTube to be banned in Dubai?

Believe it or not, YouTube is going to be banned in Dubai, and UAE. The Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, Lt Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, is of opinion that YouTube ‘incites hatred’ and, therefore, should be banned from computers.

Dubai Police Chief has launched a campaign during which he called upon Etisalat to ban YouTube, the site ranked top 10 in most popular sites in the UAE.

Tamim said that the website contained videos that ‘sparked dissension’, especially on religious belief. “Publishing pornographic material and defamatory ideas is not freedom”.

Khaleej Times quote Mohammed Okour, spokesman for Etisalat, said that the company had received no request from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which determines whether or not a website should be banned in the UAE.

In 2006 YouTube removed videos from right-wing activists such as Michelle Malkin, who posted several videos defaming Islam. A film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, which criticises Islam, is banned in the UAE through conventional websites. However, it still available on YouTube.

On Sunday, Bangladesh became the latest country to impose a block on YouTube after a 40-minute discussion between the Prime Minister and senior generals was posted online. Earlier, in February 2008, the Pakistani government blocked the video-sharing site, because it republished cartoons blasphemous to Islam. Last April, Indonesian officials temporarily blocked YouTube for carrying the film, but restored service a week later.

+ More