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Saudi IT ministry decides to unblock WhatsApp, Viber and Skype

RIYADH: Online video calling apps, including WhatsApp, Skype and Viber, will be unblocked in Saudi Arabia from next week, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawahah announced today.

“Negotiations with telecommunication service providers and related bodies are underway to enable customers to use the apps to make voice and video calls of the “highest quality”,” Al-Sawahah said in an interview.

“However, the usage of the apps will be heavily monitored by the government bodies and service providers,” he added.

The minister further went on to add that telecom companies will also be required to provide quarterly index of complaints filed by subscribers in order to ensure transparency.

The kingdom imposed a ban on the video-calling apps in 2013, after the government claimed that they “do not meet the regulatory conditions”.

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M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.