Residents rejoice as Saudi announces that apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Viber will soon be available again
17 September 2017
| Last updated on 17 September 2017
Saudi residents are excited as it was announced on Thursday, September 14th, 2017 that voice and video calling apps will be unblocked in the country on Wednesday, September 20th, 2017.
Communications and Information Technology Commission and telecommunications service providers are working together to bring this service back for residents.
Apps offering the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service were blocked in 2013 after service providers complained that these offerings are causing them huge losses. Further to this, the Kingdom also said that the free internet messenger and call services were failing to comply with the telecom regulations and caused a concern for national security.
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Expats are especially excited about this new development as they can now make high quality video calls to contact their friends and family in other countries without receiving a huge bill at the end of the month.
This cooperation falls under the ‘Customer First’ umbrella in the Kingdom to satisfy the needs of users in Saudi Arabia and to provide subscribers with the best services.
Be careful what you say while using these apps though as the Communications and Information Technology Commission also said that these apps will be closely monitored by government bodies and service providers.
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This initiative to develop a digital society in the Kingdom is part of the bigger Vision 2030 reform. With so many changes happening in Saudi because of the reform, we are curious to see what else Vision 2030 holds in store for Saudi Arabia.