Skype, the internet calling service, is opening a regional office in Bahrain to try to win over regional regulators and operators. Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services have been a popular way for people around the world to communicate at lower cost than many regular calling services, but the technology has not been accepted by some GCC countries.
Skype is the world's most popular VoIP service with more than 560 million subscribers. It accounted for 12 per cent of all international calls last year and its popularity is a concern to some operators. Access to the Skype website is prohibited in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait and North Korea by federal regulators, while Lebanon is considering a ban. Rouzbeh Pasha, the head of Skype for the Middle East and Africa , said the region had "great potential" for the company to grow its business.
"This is really a base for us to be closer to the region and 1.2 billion people that live in the region, which are our target market," said Mr Pasha. Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said attracting innovative and successful companies such as Skype reflected the impact that economic and telecommunications reforms had achieved in Bahrain.
Bahrain has pioneered several telecoms initiatives. It was the first country in the Gulf to launch a mobile and internet service as well as the first to liberalise its telecoms market. Mr Pasha declined to comment on the negotiations with regulators in the region that have blocked Skype. "We are a software company and we are not a telecoms company," Mr Pasha said. "We don't see us as a company that falls under their jurisdiction. I don't see it as our job to reach out to regulators since we are not in the business they are in."
Skype is in talks with a regional telecoms operator to install its application on mobile phones and an announcement will be made shortly, he said. One operator that is not likely to have Skype on its mobile phones in the near future is du, the UAE's second operator. Mr Pasha said Skype was not in talks with du, contrary to what the operator's officials had reportedly said. Farid Faraidooni, the chief commercial officer for du, said the operator would launch its own VoIP service next month. It was supposed to launch it this month, but was delayed by "technical issues", he said.
"They will come in different forms and shapes," Mr Faraidooni said. "They will be VoIP on mobile, VoIP on landlines, VoIP on the desktop and we'll try to develop as many services we can on VoIP and extend it to the users." dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
