It should be no surprise that Friday's front-page story on the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority deciding that using Skype's iPhone app was illegal was one of the day's most popular stories. People in the UAE really want free, unregulated access to internet calling, or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology.
However, unless VoIP is offered by the country's existing licensees - Etisalat and du as well as Thuraya and Yahsat - that is likely not to happen.
But, access to the Skype app in the iTunes App Store remains unfiltered and based on anecdotal and personal experience, the app works fine.
Of course, it would be interesting to find out how much a call costs to make since Skype's iPhone app works over 3G networks and thus, you'd need to subscribe to a hefty data package to use it. I decided to find out.
I turned off my iPhone's wifi connection and used the Skype app while on 3G while placing three different one minute calls.
The results - calls placed using the Skype iPhone app revealed that it used:
- 1.2 megabytes per minute when calling a UAE mobile number plus an additional "Skype Out" charge;
- 420 kilobytes per minute calling the Skype computer application and;
- 550k per minute when calling another Skype iPhone app in the UAE.
Assuming that the calls were made while subscribed to Etisalat iPhone package that costs Dh415 per month for 5 gigabytes of mobile data, the calls would cost:
- 10 fils per minute (about 2.7¢) when calling a mobile number plus a Dh2.25 charge using Skype Out;
- 3.5 fils per minute (1¢) when calling a Skype computer application and;
- 4.5 fils per minute (slightly more than 1¢) when calling another Skype iPhone app.
By comparison, the cost of Etisalat subscribers making phone calls on a local mobile device ranges between 24 fils to 30 fils per minute. Costs would also be larger depending where in the world you'd place calls - US, UK, Japan, etc. This analysis also varies depending on what data package you have subscribed to, but it's easy to compare once you've already got baseline figures.
I asked Skype to verify my calculations and data usage using their device but they declined to respond, saying they simply "do not provide that information."
It also should be noted that Skype will begin to charge a "nominal fee" for certain calls made on the iPhone app this August despite the chagrin from its users. But for now, calling another Skype user with the app remains free of charge.
