List of Case Studies used throughout the UAE wiki | Case | Description | Page |
| VoIP Ban: UAE blocks Skype.com | VoIP Ban | Internet Filtering |
| Ban on Social Networking Websites: Orkut.com | Social Networking Websites banned | Internet Filtering |
| Resident's Sentiments: Joining the conversation | Resident's Sentiments onJoining the conversation | Internet Filtering |
| Middle East Blogging Summit | Blogging | Social Media Activities |
| Jeeran.com | Web Hosting | Social Media Activities |
| Khimji Ramdas | Corporate Blogging | Social Media Activities |
| du hits two million mobile customers | The popularity of telcos | Telecommunications |
| Third UAE telco not a threat, says Etisalat | Third telco is not a threat | Telecommunications |
| Virtual Mobile not a threat, say du and Etisalat | Virtual Mobile is not a threat | Telecommunications |
| New developments in Internet Filtering in the UAE - | The impending implementation of the Internet Penetration Policy and its implications | Internet Filtering |
Case Studies on Internet Filtering
Case Study on VoIP Ban: UAE blocks Skype.com
Skype, a software that allows users to make free or discounted international calls through voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology is blocked in UAE. This is confirmed by Skype Journal, a blog that started by Skype's founders.The block was based on Telecom Regulatory Authority of UAE's ban on all sorts of Internet calls in the free zones of Dubai.
Skype users in the United Arab Emirates are blocked from the Skype.com web site which prevents users of the Skype internet telephone system from buying minutes to call at highly discounted rates relative to the international calling rates charged by incumbent telco, Etisalat - Emirates Telecommunications Corporation.
Despite the ban, Etisalat has announced that they are VoIP ready. This contradicting move have since sparked many speculation that Etisalat has plans to monopolize the VoIP market in Dubai. With the exact motivation behind TRA's ban unknown, it further adds to the speculation that the move to ban VoIP is for economic reason, given that a large proportion or residents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are expatriates, affordable international callingrates are highly sought after.
Political control was another possible motive behind such a ban. Skype automatically encrypts conversations, making it costly and difficult to tap conversations or determine calling patterns.
Case Study on ban on Social Networking websites: Orkut Banned, Facebook at risk
Social networking sites like Orkut have been on occasion, banned. Most internet users in the UAE have been denied access to Orkut, following reports that the site contains sexually explicit material and is being used for 'immoral activities'.
Facebook too, might be banned since it is littered with groups and discussion boards about sex. Graphic images and descriptions are freely available to view on many of the site’s pages, with surfers encouraged to join in by adding pictures and comments. Some sexually explicit material is found under the UAE 'network' on the site. The majority of the members of this 'network' are likely to live in the UAE.
The UAE also has a ban on social networking websites flicker and Hi5, and only recently lifted a ban MySpace and video-sharing site YouTube.
The Emirates' monopoly internet service provider Etisalat banned Orkut.com on Tuesday upon orders from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
The TRA issued a formal letter to the UAE's internet service providers to block the site after receiving complaints - flagged by the UAE's Gulf News newspaper - that the site posted ‘objectionable' material.
Google-owned Orkut claims to be designed to reunite old friends, and help users keep in touch and meet new friends.
However recent reports have claimed that thousands of users in the UAE were joining sexually explicit communities which some say are plentiful on the website.
Google executives have said they will try and negotiate with UAE authorities after they blocked the website.
"We're disappointed that Orkut is being blocked because it's a great way for people to meet, socialise and share interests. We will be reaching out to the authorities to try to resolve this," a Google spokesperson told Gulf News.
Case on resident's sentiments: Joining the conversation
update by Alexander McNabb on Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Internet censorship is bad for progressLast year I spoke at a regional telecommunications conference when I asked the audience of telecom operators, media people and technologists how many had heard of Web 2.0. I got less than 10 hands up in a room of some 300 and more, and got even less when I asked how many people had heard of Facebook.
Before I got up on stage, I had to sit through a presentation from a telecommunications network manufacturer that was telling us how cool it was that their vision embraced messaging software like Yahoo! Messenger and MSN and how very funky for the kids this content was.
The kids had moved on, of course, and were doing something completely different with their eyeballs. It can be hard, keeping up with kids.
It did depress me. The fact is that the way the world is communicating is undeniably changing, but the vast majority of people working in the regional telecoms industry appear oblivious to the nature of that change. That and the application of a vast reserve of absolute stupidity can be the only explanation for the fact that a wide number of what can be characterised as increasingly important Internet resources are blocked in the UAE.
Why are they important? Well, today’s world is one where people are increasingly adopting new social and sharing networks. Facebook and MySpace are the examples that everyone loves to use, but there are a huge number of others, including professional networks like LinkedIn and Xing. As these are opening up new potential ways of using information to people, the companies behind them are morphing and integrating the information streams they present to consumers.
So, for instance, Wikipedia and Google Earth link to photo sharing resource Panoramio. Increasingly, people are being presented with powerful new ways to select, combine and inter-link information streams, then have them formatted to suit a preference. And those information flows are becoming powerful and even central to an increasing number of people.
Except where an operator or regulator with no vision allows them to be blocked, apparently because they are ‘dating’ sites. The net result of this dim policy does not stop ‘dating’ but does stop the adoption of these social information-centric networks and sites. Dating, oddly, used to happen before the Internet, by the way. It’s perhaps worth noting that we are all here simply because our forefathers did actually manage to get it together without the assistance of the Internet.
This policy actually limits the adoption of advanced forms of knowledge-based technology: in other words, these people are holding young people back and retarding their exposure to, and use of, increasingly important technology platforms compared to other parts of the world. And even, arguably, helping to make their young people less competitive. Because, few would disagree, you have to keep up with changes in technology more today than ever before if you are to stay alongside the rapid pace of innovation.
It is perhaps worth noting that Internet sites in Jordan and Egypt are not blocked and that Jordanian and Egyptian youth culture have not been plunged into depravity. Rather the opposite: there is a strong and vibrant technology and software industry creating significant economic opportunity and societal benefit in both countries.
Orkut has 60 million users. Black Planet 16 million users. Habbo 80 million. They’re all blocked. So’s Flickr, Twitter, Dodgeball and CyWorld. Many of these are purely frivolous. More than one are part of Google’s increasingly integrated information offerings. None are intentionally morally corrupt sites, they just reflect the input of millions of people around the world who are all interacting, learning and adopting new forms of communication together. And they are part of increasingly integrated and fast-evolving systems of communication that regional telcos, judging from my experience last year, simply aren’t keeping pace with, don’t understand and are blocking out of sheer ignorance and lack of vision.
The content blocks in place against social networking sites need to be removed. The news that the TRA is considering a formalisation of censorship policy is good news indeed if it results in these sites being opened up and the resultant fostering of technology use and access – a process that has been retarded in the UAE and other states by the blocking policy.
Face WarsWeb 2.0 is not a new technology or standard for the Worldwide Web, but a term coined to define the innovative thinking that is re-energising the ways in which people use the internet. Consumer Generated Media (GCM) such as blogs are part, but by no means all, of the thinking behind the new generation of social networking and information sharing sites and services now opening up.
“If Web 0 (the internet without the web) was about sharing information (a document, a paper, some email), then Web 1.0 was about sharing experience (how you do this, tips & tricks, support boards) – but Web 2.0 is about sharing your life,” is how Gianni Catalfamo - technology practice leader at Pleon, the leading European communications network - puts it.
The fastest growing of these new ‘Web 2.0’ services has undoubtedly been the social networking site Facebook, which has spread through the Middle East region like wildfire, with thousands signing up every week. Despite the many column inches dedicated by traditional media to discussing the ‘threat’ of blogs (a threat, incidentally, only to traditional media), those blogs remain relatively marginal in the Middle East.
Until now, that is. Facebook has - in just a few months - become a forum that is hard to ignore for sharing information, friendships, and viewpoints. Discussions reflect the depth of divisions and conflicts that are now apparently deepening in the region as communities - particularly the Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian - try to make sense of the latest conflict in Lebanon: the war against Fatah Al Islam.
Facebook is more than just a place where excited friends share social notes and pictures of themselves: it has become a massive open forum for serious political dialogue - and, unfortunately, occasional racist abuse and violent threats. It's all part of a new egalitarianism - something that has arrived with remarkable stealth.
So now alongside ‘just for fun’ Facebook groups like the 25,000-strong ‘I went to a proper British boarding school’ or the 75,000-strong ‘Petition to revoke the independence of the United States’, political Middle East groups are attracting thousands of members. These groups are part of a huge and growing number of conversations taking place amongst networks of hundreds of people, the biggest public assembly and debate of opinion and original thought the region has ever seen – all without a single meeting.
If you want evidence of sheer numbers, then try the group ‘Against Delisting Palestine from Facebook’s Wall’, which has over 15,000 members. And if you want to try and keep up with it, you’d better be fast. In one week, the group ‘Nobody’s ruinin’ my [******] holiday in Lebanon this summer’ grew to reach over 8,000 members: that’s an adoption rate of over two new members every minute.
The debate is often bitter, and sometimes descends into sectarianism and violent language. Among the polarised opinions and strong words are cries for moderation and pleas against sectarianism. The sheer pressure of expressed opinion, of free-flowing dialogue is truly remarkable, much of it written in ‘MSN Arabic’, the unique dialect rendered on Latin keyboards that pretty much every young Arab now knows.
Some of the entries do not make pretty reading. But if you want to know what young Arabs are thinking, then this is the place to be. Don’t expect to find any simple conclusions or easy characterisations of sentiment. But do expect to find yourself joining the conversation.
Case Studies on Social Media Activities
Case Study on Blogging: Middle East Blogging Summit Information Source: ArabianBusiness.com as of 17 April 2008
Jordan will in June host the first conference in the Middle East on blogging and consumer-generated or social media, as the region addresses how to catch up with Europe and the US in terms of platforms, adoption and available content.
iBlog…iMedia will highlight the role of blogs and social media in changing the media landscape, bringing together international and local commentators, marketers, bloggers and media owners to examine how companies can contribute to, and gain from new developments.
Its agenda promises discussions on how governments legislate for the new media, the new rules of the game, and definitions of what is “acceptable, unacceptable and tolerable in the new global context.”
Other topics include how social media from blogs to Wikipedia can foster a new dialogue and create better understanding, and a look at how traditional and social media can work together in the Middle East.
Conference organiser Samer Marqouq said “Social media, also referred to as Web 2.0 media, like Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube and blogs are changing the way people interact. We believe this conference will open up a new level of understanding in this important area.”
Case study on Corporate Blog: Khimji Ramdas
Khimji Ramdas LLC recently launched its corporate blog - KR Bright Sparks (www.krsparks.wordpress.com), being the first private sector business house in Oman to do so.
In the modern digital era, corporate blogs are fast becoming effective communications channels of choice between the companies and various publics - customers, media, principals etc. They are creating highly interactive social communities, while disseminating information and facilitating informal conversations between companies and all the people whose lives they touch directly or otherwise.
With an exclusive daily contest running on the blog to celebrate Caffe’ Vergnano 1882’s first birthday in Oman, now is a good time to visit the KR Bright Sparks blog (www.krsparks.wordpress.com). Just answer a simple question and you could be the lucky winner of a complimentary drink at Caffe’ Vergnano 1882.
Created and maintained by KR Corporate Communications Department in partnership with UMS Interactive – Oman’s leading web solutions provider, the KR blog connects KR to customers in Oman and people elsewhere who are interested in knowing more about KR, its products, services, activities and promotions.
KR brings over 100 global brands to Oman, touching almost every aspect of life. The KR blog will keep visitors updated on the latest buzz on these brands.
Being an organization with diversified business interests, KR will use the blog as an influential channel to talk to people about technology, fashion, lifestyle, health, cuisine and more.
It will also keep visitors posted on events and happenings in Oman that touch lives, KR achievements and success stories. And not to forget, lots of light moments and interesting conversations.
Case Study on Web Hosting in UAE: Jeeran.com Jeeran was launched in 2000 as the first Arab web hosting community, with a young a futuristic vision to provide Arab users with the latest web technologies and the means to communicate and connect. Its services translate to more than innovation and creativity and they open new opportunities to the advertiser to reach millions of users by relating to their interest and demands. The Jeeran community has reached over 1 million members, and over 600,000 thousand websites built and over 75,000 active blogs. Its social network revolves around its user's content and the relationships between its members, and thus it has been a pioneer in pushing for the power of user generated content ever since it was launched.
Set in the hub of Dubai Media City, Jeeran.com will service the region’s increasing demand for online advertising on social media. The opening of the office in Dubai places Jeeran.com in the centre of the Middle East media agency hub, and lines the company up to compete with other local rivals for the expected boom in localized and social regional media spending.
With its user generated content applications including blogs, personal websites, and user profiles, Jeeran.com claims over one million users on its platform with other tools that facilitate members generating their own online content.
The company’s content base of user generated blogs, videos, photos and files is growing rapidly in line with internet growth in the region. The growing trend of internet use at home in the region, combined with the use of the internet as a primary form of communication for individuals to share their thoughts and ideas places Jeeran.com in an excellent market position.
“The establishment of our Dubai Office allows us to better service our media and advertising customers that need to understand exactly how powerful social media has become. With over 3Bn USD spent in the UAE market on advertising and the growing migration from off the page advertising towards online media channels we felt that now was the right time to invest in our local office as internet growth has already hit 45 million users” said Mr. Omar F. Koudsi, President and Co-Founder of Jeeran.com
“We took a long term investment decision to open our media and sales business in Dubai. Dubai really has achieved an incredible feat in its growth and with Dubai having the internet and media community in such proximity to each other it made perfect sense for us” continued Mr. Omar
The Middle East media market to follow the trends displayed in the USA and in Europe where page advertising has decreased whilst online advertising has increased dramatically. The effectiveness of Internet advertising, which can be measured using a variety of methods, is where the customer gets a real return on investment. It is extremely difficult to measure how effectively television, newspaper, radio or magazine ads drive sales but with online, an advertiser can tell who clicked on an Internet ad and even who bought a product or service during an internet session.
Companies such as Google and Yahoo have really been dominant in the Global search market but social media innovation requires a different skill set you only have to look at recent social media acquisitions by both companies to understand how big social media really is. Jeeran.com offers media, the power to reach wider demographic and advertisers segment to the very specific interest group, age, or geographic location quickly – resulting in a much higher return on investment for the companies’ customers.
Case Studies on Telecommunications
Our team has listed three reports that encapsulate the news on telecommunication companies in UAE.
Case study on the popularity of telcos: du hits two million mobile customers
By Mark Sutton on Monday, May 26, 2008
http://www.itp.net/news/520246-du-hits-two-million-mobile-customers?ln=en 
UAE telco operator du is claiming to have attracted two million customers in its first fifteen months of offering mobile services.
du says its is following the UAE Telecoms Regulatory Authority's definition of an ‘active subscriber', as any customer that has made or received a call or sent an MMS or SMS message within the last 90 days. As part of its ongoing to commitment to transparency, du says it will continue to release subscriber numbers on a quarterly basis.
Osman Sultan, CEO du said: "This is an important milestone for us, these figures are evidence that du played fully its role in bringing real competition to the UAE telecommunication market.
"I would like to thank each and every one of our two million customers for their valuable trust; and our main focus in the future is to continue providing more innovative services to them, this milestone would have not been possible without the dedication of the du family; starting with the Chairman and members of the board of directors, and of course the 1,900 employees" he added.
Farid Faraidooni, EVP Commercial, du commented: "This achievement has spurred us on to greater heights. Our customers, both enterprise and consumer, can look forward to more innovative products and services from du, which will increase their convenience and comfort. We will also be expanding our retail network across the UAE to be more accessible to our customers." Case study on the third UAE telco: Third UAE telco not a threat, says Etisalat
By Michele Howe on Tuesday, September 25, 2007
http://www.itp.net/news/500847-third-uae-telco-not-a-threat-says-etisalat 
The arrival of a third telco operator in the UAE is not a significant threat, an official at Etisalat remarked in a recent interview with ITP.net.
Commenting on the potential arrival of a third player on the market, Etisalat chief operating officer Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar said it would be a bigger problem for Etisalat's competitor du than it would be for itself.
"Normally they say the third operator mainly competes with the second operator not the first. This is the trend in other markets so I think the challenge will be more to our competitor than to us," Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar told ITP.net.
The UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) director general Mohammed Al Ghanim said during recent Dubai trade show GITEX that the introduction of a third telco player in the UAE was inevitable although he added that it is premature to discuss dates.
Commenting on the impact of its first competitor du, Julfar said it had mainly been positive, helping Etisalat to become more competitive.
"Our mindset has changed," he said. "We used to be very much technology focused, but now we are transforming to a more customer focused environment."
"It is just like a race now. You always want to be ahead of your competitor," he added.
du launched its mobile services in February this year ending Etisalat's 30-year monopoly on telecom service provision in the UAE. It added fixed voice services to its offer in September.
du currently has 850,000 mobile subscribers, while Etisalat says it has more than six million.
Case study on virtual mobile: Virtual mobile 'no threat' says etisalat and du
Posted onMonday, 26 May 2008
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/press_releases/detail/19710?ln=en Press Release Content
Region's telecom executives gather at MECOM 2008, region's premier industry showcase.
The top executives of the two telecommunication providers in the United Arab Emirates say they have nothing to fear from the introduction of competition from new mobile operators in the future.
The chairman of etisalat and the chief executive of du were speaking on the sidelines of the Middle East Communications Exhibition and Conference (MECOM 2008) which was officially opened yesterday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre by HE Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and CEO of Mubadala Development Company.
Both were responding to questions about Mobile Virtual Network Operators, which provide services to their customers over the existing infrastructure of licensed operators. They have dramatically changed the telecom landscape in Europe, the US and parts of Asia, bringing down the cost of calls.
The head of the UAE Telecommunications Authority, also speaking on the sidelines of MECOM yesterday, said it was premature to discuss their immediate introduction but mobile virtual network operations would be examined "down the road."
Their introduction into the UAE would be seen as "an opportunity and not a threat" by Mohammad Hassan Omran, Chairman of etisalat. "I think it will happen with all the alliances and partnerships taking place and there will not always be the need for new networks to be established - we can provide them," he said. Asked if etisalat would consider becoming a virtual operator in overseas markets, he added: "I would love to."
Osman Sultan, CEO of du, agreed mobile virtual networks were "not a threat in a mature market" such as the UAE and it was "natural that these things should happen." With 6,500,000 customers, etisalat is the UAE's biggest telecom provider and is expanding dramatically internationally with ventures and partnerships in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Du, with two million customers, is concentrating on the domestic market.
Mohamed N. Al Ghanim, Director General of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, said it was premature to discuss the early entry of virtual mobile operators. "Competition has only just started and we are looking at the market," he added.
"We will look into it down the road. First we will have to see if the market will be able to absorb another mobile operator, or a virtual mobile operator. It is a question of timing. We must do things in stages, just as in Europe and the rest of the world."
Virtual mobile network operators don't own infrastructure but buy bulk time at a discounted rate from licensed mobile network operators and resell to customers with additional services. There are now more than 300 such operators across the world and in some countries they outnumber licensed operators. The first country in the Middle East to establish a legal framework for virtual mobile is Jordan.
MECOM 2008, which continues until Wednesday 28 May 2008, is being held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
MECOM, with more than international and regional exhibitors, is the region's premier dedicated event for the telecommunications industry showcasing the best in hardware, software and services. MECOM is officially supported by the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Dubai Internet City.
ICT Industry Partner for the event is Dubai Internet City. Platinum sponsors are etisalat, the UAE Information and Communication Technology Fund and du. Gold sponsors are Ericsson, Blackberry, EMS and the Abu Dhabi Media Company.
Case Study on New Developments in Internet Filtering: Internet Penetration Policy and its Implications Sources: “Dubai’s Du to Block Offensive Websites”, by Derek Baldwin Sr, 13 April 2008, www.xpress4me.com “First Day of Du Proxy”, 14 April 2008, www.uaecommunity.blogspot.com 
Issuing a press statement on 20 February 2008, Mohammed Al Ghanim, Board Member and Director-General of the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced the implementation of the Internet Penetration Policy (IPP) by end 2008. TRA allowed Du one month’s grace from the date of announcement of the policy for compliance. This is in light of the fact that Du was a new company which had just started to implement the concept of internet monitoring. TRA stressed that Etisalat was already abiding by the policy and both telecom operators have to be regulated by TRA. The TRA claimed that the IPP would in effect liberate web access by having more specific definitions for the types of online content which should be filtered out. Allegedly, the IPP will open up many sections of sites or sites which are currently blocked. A TRA spokesperson told UAE newspaper Emirates Business 24-7, “"The penetration policy will be liberalised in the sense that it will be more specific. We do not want to deny access to websites that are social portals and encourage cultural interaction in today's globalised world. At the same time it has to be done without losing our identity, traditions, ethics, morals and culture." In April 2008, Du issued an advisory informing that it would begin blocking all and any websites which were not in tandem with the values of the UAE. Du sent an SMS text to all its customers saying: “We wish to inform you that from 14 April 2008 we will be blocking sites with content that do not conform to the moral, social and cultural values of the UAE,” Du stated in an SMS text sent to its customers. Thus, the unrestricted internet access enjoyed by some Dubai residents living in freezones officially came to an end. Du subsequently issued an official press statement as follows:
"It is our constant endeavour to maintain the perfect balance between ensuring that all our customers' requirements are met, and that we comply with all the guidelines of the TRA, including those on internet content filtering.
The World Wide Web offers us great opportunities to get and share information and to communicate. However, it is imperative that when making use of this technology for its enormous benefits, we respect the moral, social and cultural values of the United Arab Emirates.
du will be blocking all content that is not in line with these values, effective from 14 April 2008. Due to the nature of the content filtering process, some harmless sites may also inadvertently be blocked. We request our customers' assistance in informing us when a site that they consider harmless has been blocked, by writing to safesurf@du.ae so we can look into the matter." Source: “Dubai’s Du to Block Offensive Websites”, by Derek Baldwin Sr, 13 April 2008, www.xpress4me.com The blocking decision was subsequently confirmed by a TRA spokesman, Mr. Rasheed Joumblatt, saying, “The proxy server is there and everyone should follow the rules and regulations or the TRA regarding the values, traditions and ethics of the UAE.” He added that websites containing pornography, hatred, child abuse, alcohol, gambling or terrorism are blocked via filtering software which recognizes the subject material and blocks the sites from being viewed. Under the IPP, elements of social networking websites, such as Facebook’s dating-related sections, would be banned in future.
Share this
